


The Portrait of the Petals

by FormallyKnownAsFreya



Category: Naruto
Genre: Absolute Trash, Abuse, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Cutesy, Drama & Romance, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Opposites Attract, Teen Angst, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-19
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-02-09 12:10:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 52,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1982454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FormallyKnownAsFreya/pseuds/FormallyKnownAsFreya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Popular and preppy Sakura is forced to be computer lab partners with the unsocial and angsty Sabaku Gaara. Things are incredibly rocky at the start, but they learn to respect each other's differences while learning more about each other. A friendship evolves from animosity and both hope that it will grow into something more.</p><p>A cute romance that evolves into something more saucy. These underage characters also partake in sexual relationships. Drama, drama, and more high school drama.<br/>It's fucking awful. Read it anyway. [[[ABANDONED WORK]]]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Impressions are Lasting Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: THIS WORK HAS BEEN ABANDONED. THERE WILL NEVER BE MORE CHAPTERS FOR THIS PARTICULAR FIC FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE!

Chapter 1: First Impressions are Lasting Impressions

“Alright, time for some…wait for it…EXTRA CREDIT!” Ms. Anko exclaimed with a bright smile. The computer teacher, clearly pleased with herself, grinned openly to her class. They didn’t grin back but instead let out a collective groan. Everyone hated Ms. Anko’s ‘extra credit’ assignments.

Normally extra credit meant an opportunity to improve a grade if a student so chose but in her class things were a little different. Extra credit never meant ‘optional’, it more or less meant ‘required’. The class wondered why she even bothered to call it extra credit at all. It was probably to be cruel and unusual.

“Don’t whine or I’ll dock your grade!” She threatened with severity but quickly replaced her scowl with a smile. “You’ll love it! It’s a PowerPoint assignment! It’ll be easy!”

Sakura popped her juicy fruit bubblegum in annoyance. The white gum contrasted with her bright pink hair. _I hate computer class._ And it wasn’t just the fact that she wasn’t doing well. Sakura felt the class was a waste of time. Her time. _Why waste my time on the computer when I could be learning how to do an advanced basket toss for my squad?_ She chewed noisily, blew another bubble and tightened her short pink ponytail.

Anko continued. “You are going to do your presentation on a sensitive issue. You can defend it or bash it; what you choose doesn’t matter. And to promote teamwork,” she then whispered to herself ‘and lighten my workload’; “you’re all going to work in pairs!”

This statement made Sakura relax a little. _As long as I get paired with anyone but Ino I’ll be fine_. Ino was the only one doing worse than Sakura. The blonde could break a computer by looking at it. A quick glance around the room showed Sakura her prospective partners.

Naruto was snickering and elbowing Lee which made Sakura frown. _Not them please_! They were almost as bad as Ino when it came to maturity. Tenten was clicking around on the computer and so was Shino. _At least I’d pass if paired with either of them._   She gazed at Sasuke who was talking animatedly with Kiba; apparently they were already making plans in case they got teamed up. _Too bad._ Sakura sighed. _He’s handsome, sweet, and smart. I want to work with him; and I’d get a decent grade_. Sakura didn’t pay much attention to the others. _As long I’m not paired with an idiot I can deal._

“ALRIGHT! I’m going to assign the groups so listen up. I won’t repeat myself,” Anko warned. “First Group: Tenten and Kiba”

Kiba groaned and Sasuke gave him a sympathetic smile. “Too bad man.” _I wish Sasuke would smile at me …If I’m lucky maybe he’ll be my-_

“Naruto and Sasuke.”

Sakura’s hopes dropped. _Damn. So much for that_. Naruto and Sasuke gave each other a glare but it only lasted a second before they burst out laughing. There used to be such a rivalry between them but now all they seemed to do was poke fun at each other.

“Ino and…”

Sakura crossed her fingers. _Not me! Not me!_

“…Temari.”

Resisting the urge to laugh, Sakura had to hold her hand to her mouth like it was riveted there for fear of exploding all over the room. _Ino got placed with a Goth chick! I’m so glad I’m not her!_ Sakura watched an annoyed glare pass between the two blonde girls. It wasn’t long before Ino’s eyes shifted. Ino saw Sakura was trying very hard not to bust a gut and gave her the finger in response.  The teacher either didn’t see or simply didn’t care; bets were on the latter.

“Hinata and Shino.” They were good friends. No problems there.

“Choji and Shikamaru.” _Close friends again. Lucky._

Sakura noticed that her partner choices were dwindling down into the single digits. She could count who was left on one hand. There was Lee, Neji, and Gaara. She didn’t like the idea of working with any of them.

 Lee was harmless enough but had this insanely unhealthy attraction to Sakura. She got forty different valentines in February from ‘the green beast of Konoha High’. She knew it was him; he’s the only one who wears that awful green. His eyebrows made her want to pluck her own every time she saw them. A creeped out shiver danced up her spine. _They look like caterpillars_. _Gross_.

Neji was a misogynistic douche and every girl in the school knew it. That didn’t stop many of them trying to get into his pants. The one time Sakura complimented him on a grade he got he told her ‘of course I aced it. Men are just more naturally gifted than women.’ Sakura wanted to spit on his paper. _He’s so humble._ Sakura rolled her eyes.

And Gaara. That kid creeped her out. He was the poster child for satanic worship. He had a dozen or more piercings and not just in his ears. There was one in his lip and two where an eyebrow would be except there were none.  Who knows where else? He shopped at Hot Topic and nowhere else it seemed judging from all the black cloth and silver chains. His sister did too. He never talked unless it was to say something…mean. Everyone avoided him because they were afraid of him. Worried he might put a curse on them or something. _So creepy. Why didn’t the teacher just pair him with his freak of a sister?_

“Sakura…hmm…” Anko was debating.

Sakura panicked and prayed to any god who would listen _. God! Buddah! Satan! Don’t care which! I can’t believe I’m saying this but give me Lee! Give me Lee! He’s the lesser of all the evils!_ Sakura held her breath.

“I’ll put you with Gaara since you could really use the grade. That leaves Lee with Neji.”

Sakura’s world fell apart like a baseball through a stain glass window, the pieces shattering further as they hit the ground. _No! How could she place me with that psycho?!_ Gaara didn’t seem to care or even notice. Ino was laughing her ass off, not even attempting to contain herself. It was true what they said; Karma was a straight up bitch.

Ino snickered in her ear, “I thought I had it bad! You got stuck with the kid from The Omen!!” With this Ino laughed even harder. _Thanks a lot Ino, for that demonic insight_. Sakura would have choked her if she could get away with it.

Sakura couldn’t think of a sensitive issue that she and Gaara might agree on. Abortion _? He looks like he drowns babies for fun._ Animal rights? _His aura practically emanates eating puppy flakes for breakfast._ Sakura was getting depressed fast. Naruto headed over and pat Sakura on the shoulder.

“Man, you’re so lucky Sakura!” the blonde boy beamed.

Sakura nearly exploded, “Is that supposed to be funny?! In what way?! I have to work with that antisocial nut job!”

Naruto winced a bit but continued, “Gaara’s really smart you know. Even if he’s quiet and a little angsty. You’re pretty much guaranteed an A+.”

For some reason Naruto’s comment did little to lift her spirits. _I feel like god pissed in my oatmeal this morning, just to watch me gag._

Anko told them to get into their groups and that she’d pass around a list of sensitive issues. They were to sign their names next to the one they, as a pair, chose. Sakura noticed that Gaara wasn’t moving from his spot in the corner and he glared at her with no intention of getting up _. Jerk_. Sakura picked up her bag and reluctantly crossed the classroom to sit next to him.

“This project is due 2 weeks from now. That gives you two weekends to work on it. So get to discussing!”

They didn’t talk and Sakura was grateful. _I don’t want anything to do with this weirdo_. She stared as he wrote in pen on his hand. A closer look revealed that he was drawing a rose with the thorny stem spiraling out of the center of his palm. Objectively, Sakura decided he wasn’t bad at drawing but the content was a little dark.

Gaara didn’t know much about the pinkette. She was noisy and not part of his clique. As far as looks went he found her sense of style to be…lacking. **She’s a prep through and through _._** It seemed she was always smiling and bright, though at the moment she didn’t look very happy.

The sheet was finally handed to her by Shino. She scanned it quickly _. There aren’t many issues left unclaimed_. Sakura tried to hand him the paper so he could look it over but he waved it away.

“Just pick one. I don’t care,” he grumbled and glared at his artsy palm.

“What if it’s something you don’t want to defend?” she asked.

“I’m pretty good and playing the _devil’s_ advocate; so it doesn’t matter what you choose.”

His intentional emphasis on the word ‘devil’ was a little disturbing for Sakura but she scanned the sheet again anyway. _Stem Cell Research. No. Gay Rights. Maybe. Spousal abuse. No. Animal rights._ Sakura’s head perked up. _I like animals_ … _Dogs are cute_.

“Animal rights then,” she revealed out loud as she signed their names. “Any objections?”

If Gaara had any he didn’t voice them. So Sakura handed the sheet to the next group. _I hate to admit it but we should probably set up a time to meet up and work on this. I really need a good grade. I just want to get that talking part done with as soon as possible. The sooner the better._

“So, where and when do you want to meet up? So we can get started on-”Sakura was cut off.

“Don’t bother. I’ll do all the work and give it to you at the end of the week,” he spat as the bell for lunch sounded. He grabbed his bag and pushed past her but not before grumbling one last thing to her, so low that only she could hear. “Go play with your pompoms, cheer-squealer.”

He left the room with nothing but the sounds of dangling chains on his pants. Most of the students filed out of the room after him.  Sakura’s face was blank with confusion but then it turned red with anger. _Fine! If he wants to do all the work then let him. No skin of my back, pincushion!_ She made a face at him but he was already gone.

“What a freak,” said Ino as she hooked an arm around Sakura’s neck. “But hey, he said he’ll do all the work. I wouldn’t complain if I were you.”

Temari glared at the two cheerleaders talking about her brother and stomped out of the room to follow him. _Geez like brother, like sister_.

“Come on; forget that drama king and his equally creepy sister. Let’s get some food,” Ino encouraged.

***

Sakura had her tray of turkey tetrazzini accompanied by green beans and a fruit cup. She opted for skim milk knowing that the tetrazzini was not a calorie friendly meal. She paid and looked around for her friends.

She saw Ino’s bright hair from across the cafeteria and could see that Hinata and Shino were sitting with her. A quick glance to the other side showed Gaara, his sister, and a few Goth kids she didn’t know; not even their names. _And I don’t want to know them._ They all had that sardonic smile as they talked. All except for Gaara who wore that uncaring stare. _What a creep. All of them are._

Sakura went over to her friends, took a seat next to Ino and across from Hinata. Sakura started in on her food knowing she’d need the energy later for practice. Ino began her tirade on Gaara.

“What is with that Gaara kid? For a short guy he has some attitude! Has he always been like that?” Ino asked the table.

Hinata shook her head. “I don’t know, do you?” she asked Shino.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose. He’s always pretty quiet.”

Sakura scoffed. “Yeah, quiet. If only that was what he was. You wouldn’t believe what he called me. A cheer-squealer!”

Ino gaped and then grew angry. “I didn’t hear that! What a douche!”

Shino leaned over to Hinata. “A cheer-squealer?”

Hinata leaned back. “It’s a cheerleader who is only there to please the sports players. You know, off the field…”

“Ah…”

Sakura growled as she shoveled more food into her mouth. “What an ass. Whenever he opens his mouth he vomits out an insult.”

The mental image of Gaara being the star in The Exorcist was too much for Ino and she started laughing. It even made Hinata giggle when Ino mentioned it. Sakura looked over to his table real quick and noticed he had a tattoo on his forehead but it was partially covered up with his red hair. _Who tattoos their face?! Weirdo!_

“He’s such a freak show,” Ino laughed. “Aren’t you glad he’s doing all the work for Ms. Anko’s class?”

“What?” Hinata piped up, clearly not happy to hear this. “You’re making him do everything? The whole project himself?”

Sakura put her hands out to defend against Hinata’s perturbed words, as if her hands were a shield and Hinata’s words were arrows. “He volunteered!” she insisted.

“That isn’t fair Sakura. To Gaara or the rest of the class. You have to do some work too,” Hinata pouted angrily. Sakura sighed _. Hinata and her penchant for fairness. If I don’t tell her I’ll do the work too then she’ll ignore me for weeks. Or worse, she just might tell the teacher._ Sakura wouldn’t even hold it against the little tattletale; they were friends.

“Okay! Okay!” Sakura gave in to the determined glare of her usually shy friend.

Ino looked between the two girls with uncertainty. “Hinata’s kinda scary sometimes…and Sakura, you’re such a puss,” she mused and Shino only nodded in agreement.

Hinata maintained her pout. Sakura finally threw her hands up in defeat. “What?! Want me to go over there right now?”

Hinata nodded. Sakura gave an exasperated sigh. _Why me?_ “Okay I’ll go but this won’t end well and it’ll be your fault.”

Sakura stood and took her tray with her. On the way she dumped it into the trash and headed over to the table of Goth kids. _Here goes nothing_. She braced herself for what was about to happen.

***

Gaara sat at the table and quickly the entourage of Goth and emo kids joined him. He never ate at the school so he just sat and drew a picture of a snake entangling itself into a cross. **This is boring…**

“I can’t believe Anko stuck you with that cheerleader chick, Haruno,” Temari exasperated. “It’s all because she’s sucking in that class right now and she desperately needs an A on this assignment. Can’t have the cheerleader failing a class or she’ll get taken off her precious squad.”

“I know that,” he growled. **I don’t need reminding.**

“Are you really going to do the whole thing without her doing shit? I’d make that lazy bitch do the whole thing herself,” argued a girl with extremely long dark hair. Her friend with equally dark and spiky hair laughed.

“Then it wouldn’t get done, Kin,” laughed Temari. “And they’d both get a crap grade. This way at least it’ll get done and he won’t have to talk to her.”

Gaara looked over and saw Sakura. **Looks like she’s arguing with her friends. Trouble in Paradise?** A dark haired, fair eyed girl at Sakura’s table was giving her a glare. Finally Sakura whipped her hands into the air in defeat. **Cat fight. Cheerleaders are such drama queens.** She was standing up but then Gaara looked away.

“Who cares?” Gaara went back to his drawing.

“Uh oh,” Zaku feigned fear. “Head squealer at 3 o’clock.”

They all stared as she approached. She strengthened her will knowing she was probably about to be insulted. _Here it goes._

“What do you want, Cheer-squealer?” asked Zaku. The others at the table snickered. Sakura clenched her teeth and ignored the chuckles.

“Gaara, can I talk to you?” she asked him but he didn’t look at her. “About the PowerPoint project?”

His friends all looked at him with grins on their faces. It was like they knew something she didn’t know and were waiting for Gaara to say something. He finally looked up from his drawing and put the pencil behind his ear. It seemed like ages but he finally spoke.

“What about it?” he said; still not looking at her. He was staring at his picture.

“I was thinking I’d like to help make it. I don’t want you to do all the work,” she clarified.

Kin laughed. “Imagine that, a cheerleader who actually wants to work?”

“Yeah, I’ll bet she wants to work. On those basketball players all night long!” Zaku howled really loud like a wolf then squealed like a pig. The entire group was in hysterics and clutching their stomachs as they laughed, except Gaara. Sakura clenched her fists and took a deep breath. _Don’t listen to them_.

“I’m serious Gaara. I want to help do the work.”

“Tell us, how hard you _work_ for those sports boys, squealer?” Kin asked as she got up and stood in front of Sakura.  She bent down with an insinuating smile. “How loud do you cheer when guys like Sasuke Uchiha take you off the court?”

Sakura snapped and her clenched fist went straight into Kin’s nose. There was a crack and she hit the ground a few feet away. Sakura took deep breaths and the sound in the lunch room went dead silent. Temari ran over to help Kin who was stunned and bleeding from her nose. Zaku stared in awe at Sakura, realizing she looked ready to murder.

“Say what you want about me…” she growled like a feral cat. “Don’t you dare say such things about Sasuke! He’s not like that!”

Her body was shaking violently, like she wanted to hit someone else. Gaara looked over, finally acknowledging her presence. **She’s defending that ass Uchiha?** She glared at him too but it didn’t seem to bother him. _You want some? Just say the word you life size voodoo doll. I’m ready._

“Zaku, take Kin to the nurse with my sister,” he ordered, never taking his eyes off of Sakura’s. **I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone look that way before. Not your usual cheerleader I guess.** Zaku did as he was told and the three scurried off to the nurse.

“Maybe you should’ve stepped in and she wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” Sakura smirked. Her knuckles were red and changing color as she spoke. Gaara shrugged.

“I don’t fight anyone’s battles but my own,” Gaara stood from his seat and threw out his sister’s lunch garbage. The bell rang for next period and the mass of students slowly exited the lunchroom but not without giving a prolonged stare at Sakura.

No teachers saw the fight as it were. The one teacher that was on duty was busy reading his book. But that didn’t stop the rumor from flying around school that Sakura had punched someone. Even when there was physical proof of injury, i.e. Kin’s nose, there was no way to tie it to Sakura other than through flaky testimony from her friends. And none of the students wanted to testify for fear of being the next broken nose on the list. No adult testimony, no expulsion.

“I got lucky,” Sakura sighed as she stared at her hand. _That was really stupid. I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that. I can’t afford to transfer again._ She ran cold water from the fountain on it.

_She shouldn’t have said those things about Sasuke. He’s a nice guy_. Sasuke was even nice to her, when it mattered. She’d liked him for a while but didn’t have the courage to say anything so she settled with cheering him on and defending his character whenever she needed to. Kin just spat all over his good name, how could she stand there and let her keep saying those things?

“Bitch,” Sakura exclaimed. “How can she act that way when I didn’t say a thing to her?!”

Sakura slammed her hands on the fountain and some students stared. They hurried on their merry way though when they realized the person who was fighting in the lunchroom was actually standing in front of them. They didn’t want to be the next one she whacked so they scurried around the corner without Sakura spotting them. Sakura then remembered something else.

“Dammit! He never said anything about the project. That prick!” she hissed.

***

The rest of the day went smoothly. It was quiet. Partly because of Sakura’s scary physical display downstairs and partly because she acted all sweet and innocent like it never happened. It was a little frightening for the students who actually saw her battle Kin. They didn’t know which side to believe. Sweet or scary.

_I’m gonna kill him. I’ll tear him apart and then put him back together so I can put him through the shredder again_. Sakura tapped her pencil furiously as she took deep breaths. _He ignored me! That…that…douche bag!_ She tapped faster. _I’d like to shove that little drawing pencil of his in his eye!_

The ominous aura emanating from Sakura kept the teachers from calling on her. She wasn’t herself and the teachers thought better than to irk her further.

When the classes let out, Sakura ran to the gym. She changed quickly into running shorts and a t-shirt that said ‘CHA!’ After grabbing her iPod she jogged to the track to get ready to run some laps. When she arrived outside she found that only a few of the team were there. So she decided to start without them _. I need to expel this anger in a productive way. Thank you anger management._ She sprinted with rock music in her ear.

“What I’d give to force feed him a knuckle sandwich,” she panted angrily.

***

Practice ran late that day. Instead of being 2 hours it was 3 and Sakura was tuckered.

“Alright girls! And guys. That’s enough go shower,” Kurenai blew a whistle and they broke into lines heading back into the building. Ino stopped by Sakura panting, with hands on her knees to steady her wobbling frame.

Ino gasped, “Is it just me, or is Coach Kurenai getting tougher on us?”

“Maybe she’s not getting enough…you know…from her husband? That would tick _me_ off,” snickered Tenten. The girls all laughed.

“Hey, could be she’s on her period,” Naruto quipped. Sakura knocked him one.

“Just because she’s angry and a woman doesn’t mean she’s on her period!” Sakura scolded. “Don’t be such a Neji!”

There were only three guys on the squad but it was more than enough. Naruto, Lee, and surprisingly Shikamaru. Naruto made enough dumb comments for the lot. Funny thing was that Naruto and Lee joined the team just to be close to Sakura and she knew it. Shikamaru joined because…well, no one really knew why he joined just that he did and was amazingly acrobatic. He had to work on his happy face though, he always seemed so bored.

Ino was looking off the field and near the school building. With disgust she said, “What’s _he_ doing there?”

Sakura wiped her forehead and turned to see what she meant. It was Gaara. He was sitting down near the parking lot and writing in a book. _He’s seems like such a creeper. Like a stalker or something._ It was getting dark and Ino’s question was certainly warranted. Naruto joined their staring and saw Gaara too. His eyes gazed down at the ground in realization.

“Oh, he’s waiting for his foster parent to pick him up,” Naruto frowned sympathetically. The three girls that remained all stared. _How does he know that?_ All their eyes asked Naruto the same thing.

“I was a foster kid once too, remember? I happened to have the same foster parent as him when I was really little,” Naruto explained. “But I got adopted. I guess he didn’t.”

Sakura hated to admit it but she felt a little bad for him. _Foster kid, that’s rough. His parents must have died when he was little if even Naruto remembers him._ She knew that the minute he spoke to her again she wouldn’t feel the same but for now he had her sympathy. _Okay, so I won’t force my fist down his throat. Maybe just into his face._

They all went inside and showered. Naruto got popped in the face by Kurenai when he tried to sneak a peek but other than that nothing happened. Sakura was the last to go, which was how she preferred it. She grabbed her bag and headed out for the parking lot to her car. Gaara was still sitting on the curb, writing.

_What the hell?_ _I might as well talk to him now while his cronies are out of sight._

“What are you doing?” Sakura asked, knowing full well the answer from Naruto. “Aren’t you going home?”

He was silent. **What a nosy girl.** He obviously didn’t feel the need to talk to her and continued to write in his book. She sat down next to him with a good three feet to separate them. She peeked around the corners to make sure her coach was gone and all her teammates too. Sakura then pulled a pack of cigarettes from her bag and lit one.

“Smoking is bad for you,” he finally spoke.

Sakura puffed. “There are worse things. Do you want one?”

There was a pause as Gaara glanced around. It was quiet and the parking lot vacant. **He forgot to come and get me again. Figures.** He looked at the extended cigarettes, the olive branch she was offering. Gaara closed his book.

“Sure.”

She handed him the pack and lighter. He took one and lit it before handing her stuff back.

“Newport’s are disgusting,” he finally said after a minute of silence.

“I take what I can get,” she shot back. “I’m still underage.”

It was quiet again. _He’s still kind of catty but he’s not nearly as bad as when his friends are around. Then again. The only time he was mean to me was when he was forced to be my partner. I did call him a nut job out loud in class. Retaliation is a bitch._  

“Where’s your sister? Temari…”she asked. _Was she a foster kid too?_

“She’s with my brother. I’d live with them too if I could stand either of them,” he spat. Sakura blinked. _Wow, that was kinda bitter. He does not like his siblings apparently. Funny, it seemed like he was cool with his sister._

Sakura wondered if she should bring up the project again. He didn’t seem all that interested at lunch to hear what she had to say. He glared out at the road or at something past it. Whatever it was she couldn’t see it. He flicked his cigarette and took another puff. Sakura did the same but in the reverse order.

“Sorry I punched your friend,” she said suddenly.

“No you’re not,” he retorted. “And she was asking for it.”

“I guess,” Sakura tilted her head, taking another drag. _It is true._

“And she’s not my friend. None of those idiots are my friends.”

Sakura looked at him for any sign of remorse but there was none. It was like he was talking about the weather and not his lonesome existence. _If I felt bad before I feel really bad now. No friends? Not even one?_

“About that project…” she started but he didn’t say anything. “I’m going to help. I was thinking about doing some online research on local animal shelters. Maybe go to the police station and ask them about animal abuse cases. What do you think?”

He shrugged seemingly unfazed by her interjection into the project. “You’ll do the Internet research?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“Then I’ll start planning out an outline. And finding some pictures. Nothing too graphic for your virginal eyes,” he smirked. It was the closest thing to a smile he’d ever produced. _It still looks creepy and a little condescending._

A car was driving into the lot. It swerved and eventually came to a stop. Gaara’s eyes took on a glare again and he stood up, shouldering his bag. The person in the car told Gaara to hurry up.

“Took him long enough,” Gaara growled and dropped the cigarette. He then stubbed it out with the toe of his boot. “Later, Cheerleader.”

She didn’t get the chance to say anything before the car sped off. Sakura didn’t even wave.

“Yeah, sure. Later.”

 

 


	2. Things are not always as they seem

Chapter 2: Things are not always as they seem

The week was going by quickly. Sakura didn’t get many chances to talk to Gaara about the project and the few chances that were offered to her involved going near him with his group hanging about him. She could see that Kin still wore a bandage on her broken nose and Sakura really didn’t want to go near her again. Revenge might be forthcoming.

Sakura had been trying to find out more about the living conditions at animal shelters but wasn’t getting squat. The police wouldn’t talk to her about abuse cases either. _I’d have to go a shelter to find out more about them. Or maybe ask Gaara to go._ She banished the thought. _He’d never agree to something like that. I don’t think he even has a car._

At the end of the day on Wednesday she happened to see him switching books in his locker and ran right over.

“Hey. Do you know of any animal shelters nearby?” she asked.

He stiffened at her approach but instantly relaxed. _Guess he didn’t see me advance_.

“No,” he finally answered. “Why?”

“Oh, I was thinking about checking one out and asking how many animals they rescue a week or so. You know take some photos,” she said. Then she joked, “Maybe I’ll leave it to you. You’re so cuddly I’m sure the shelter would love to see you come in.”

Gaara rolled his eyes and put his books away. **Her sarcasm is not appreciated**. He then grabbed an advanced science book and math book. “Don’t bother. You can find that stuff out online.”

“Tough looking books…” she gazed at them, ignoring his statement. “Taking advanced classes?”

“None of your business,” he slammed his locker shut and went on his way.

 _What’s got his chains in a kink? I was just asking about his classes._ Sakura saw him disappear around the corner. _Maybe I’ll check some online listings and go to whichever ones are closest tomorrow._ She nodded her head as if to accept her own proposal. _Yeah, I’ll do that and take my camera for some photos._

***

The next day she noticed that Gaara wasn’t in class. She thought about asking Temari where he was but decided against it. _I really don’t like that chick and they don’t live together anyway. Like she’d tell me even if she did know._

“Coming to practice today?” asked Ino at lunch.

“No, I’m going to check out the ASPCA downtown. Do some rescue shelter research for my project.”

“How unlucky, I found all the info I needed online,” Ino bragged. “I just send it to Temari and she picks out the good stuff. We don’t even talk. It’s great.”

Sakura poked at her food but couldn’t bring herself to eat the cafeteria-quality lasagna. _I’ll just skip practice today. No biggy. I’ll catch up on it later._

“Anyone seen Gaara?” Sakura asked.

“Nope, and I’m glad for it!” Ino admitted. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s at home cutting his wrists or dominating some Goth chick or getting his dick pierced. Sacrificing a virgin, stuff like that. You know, something more important than school…”

Sakura didn’t like these insinuations about Gaara that were no doubt exaggerations. _He didn’t seem all that bad when I talked to him. Antisocial, I’ll admit. And a little cranky. But not suicidal._ _Fashion sense aside he seemed like any other teenage guy with home troubles._ _Why wouldn’t he be antisocial and cranky? Foster kid since he was little. It sucks. God, I’m defending the loser. What’s wrong with me?_

After school Sakura hopped into her Ford POS truck and threw it in gear. It huffed and puffed but finally got going _. Maybe I should have gone with the Kia_. After ten minutes of driving and one stall out Sakura finally made it to the shelter. There were a lot of vans out in front unloading animals. _Maybe this is a bad time_. Sakura got out and slammed the creaky door. She approached one of the vans.

“Uh, excuse me?” she called out to a woman with a long brown ponytail. She was pulling a bull dog from the van by force. It wasn’t vicious but it was being stubborn.

“I’m a little busy, but…” she revealed. “What do you need? Are you here to adopt?”

“I was thinking about it,” Sakura lied. She’d get better treatment if she were a prospective adopter.

The woman said if Sakura would give her a few minutes to get the last few dogs out then she could help her. Sakura watched as a few more mutts were pulled from the vehicle and a kennel with two cats in it. Sakura couldn’t believe how many animals were being brought here. Finally the last dog was in the back room. The woman came back brushing her hands off and wiping her forehead.

“Phew! The K.P.D did a raid on a dog fighting ring today and any that weren’t going to be euthanized were brought here. You wouldn’t believe the condition they left those dogs in!” the woman was furious. Something about her face was familiar but Sakura dismissed it.

“So, are you looking for a cat? Or a dog?” she asked. “Or maybe something else?”

Sakura heard the squawk of a parrot somewhere nearby but couldn’t spot it. “I can’t really decide. I really like dogs but cats are a little more self sufficient…”

The woman nodded in agreement. “We just got two more cats but they’re probably getting washed before they get a kennel of their own. We have plenty of both. Do you want to see them?”

Sakura nodded with excitement. _I’m not really getting a pet but now I kinda wish I was_! Sakura reminded herself to take good mental notes for the PowerPoint. The first area was a dog kennel and the living conditions were quaint but not bad. Every dog had their own separate caged area unless they were puppies, then they shared. They all had food and there were people cleaning up after the pooches. _Not bad._

“This is where we wash the new dogs and cats before they get a physical exam. We check for ticks and fleas. We take a blood sample too, to make sure they don’t have leukemia. Loverboy is usually in here washing dogs but I guess he’s busy elsewhere…Keep following. I’ll show you the birds and such.”

Sakura followed quickly because the woman was clearly not waiting for her.

“This is the Bird Room. Parrots, parakeets, cockatiels, sure but we also have our stranger animals in here. We have two iguanas and a chinchilla. About a week ago we got two ferrets.”

Sakura stared at the ferrets. They were wrestling in their cage. They were a chocolaty brown and both had what looked like a black smudges around their eyes. _Oh, they are soooo cute!_ Sakura suppressed the urge to squeal and ask for one.

“Cute aren’t they?” She asked. “I prefer dogs myself but these little guys seem to steal everyone’s hearts.”

The cats were next but the woman paused before opening the door.

“One or two of the volunteers are in there. I don’t really like cats so they’ll answer your questions if you have any…Come see me if you’ve made a decision or if you need to think about it more,” the woman waved off and went back to the dog washing room. She still had plenty of animals to wash up for today.

Sakura walked in to see dozens of little kennels full of mewing cats with bright shiny eyes _. AWW! They’re soooo cute!!_ Sakura wanted to smack herself. _You’re not here for cats. You’re here on a mission. An A on your report!_

“Need help?” asked a smiling young woman. She looked insanely like the woman who just left only a little younger. “We’ve got full grown cats that are already declawed and fixed or we’ve got younger ones at about a year old. Of course we also have kittens.”

Sakura’s eyes got wide with the mention of kittens. The woman noticed and laughed.

“Loverboy! When you’re done feeding those little ones come help this young lady out, alright?”

“Alright, I hear you,” called a voice from the back and Sakura’s eyes got wide. _That sounded a little like Gaara._

Sakura quietly tiptoed to the connecting room and peeped in. Lots of little mewling noises coming from hungry kittens permeated the room making Sakura melt inside. The male voice she heard came from the boy sitting on the stool bottle feeding a kitten. _It is him! Is this where he’s been all day?_ He still hadn’t noticed her peeking into the room.

“Just a minute. You can pick after I’m done feeding this one,” he mumbled without looking up.

Sakura couldn’t help but notice that he looked different. _His piercings aren’t in_. He was wearing dark blue jeans and an ASPCA volunteer T-shirt. He also adorned a cap with a cat and dog on it; it was pulled down a bit sufficiently hiding his tattoo.

He stood up and gently put the kitten back into the kennel. It had fallen asleep while eating. He placed it into the pile of kittens that were also out cold. He looked at them as their little bodies rose and fell with their breathing.

“So, this is what you do when you cut class?” she walked in and he froze like a lake in december. **It can’t be.** His eyes looked to the side before he turned his head. Her face was beaming, clearly pleased with herself. **She’s looking at me all cheerful-like as if she hasn’t done anything wrong.** His glare suddenly came back and Sakura certainly noticed **.** _He looks really annoyed._

“What are you doing here? I told you not to bother with visiting shelters…” he growled. **She intruded on my space…**

“Yeah, I know but my curiosity got the better of me. I never dreamed I’d see you here,” she giggled. _Oh man, this is too much. He’s an animal lover at heart! I see why he had no objections to this project._

“Get out,” he said. **I want her to leave.**

“Hey, you don’t have to be ashamed. And I’m a potential adopter, so you can’t just throw me out,” she smiled. He clenched his teeth and looked away. _That’s better._

She scanned the kitten kennels even though they both knew she wouldn’t be leaving with anything. **I told her not to come here. Why didn’t she listen?! Spoiled brat, used to getting whatever she wants!**

“You know, if it wasn’t for your voice, I never would have recognized you…” Sakura admitted. “I would have walked in here and never even known it was you. You’re so different without your piercings and dark clothes. Almost normal…”

 “Don’t tell anyone about this…” he threatened.

“Oh come on. You think I’d tell on you for this? Afraid it’ll hurt your image?” she cooed. His face was getting a little red but the glare remained. **Yes, on both counts. My image is what keeps annoyances like you away.**  

“If anything it would only get people to like you more. Maybe be your friend-”

“ _I don’t want any friends_!” he turned hissing and Sakura was silenced. **This is my place. She had no right…**

The room was as quiet as it could be with kittens mewing and tussling. Sakura was struck by how forceful the statement was. It was almost like a verbal slap. She decided to back off. _I’ll stop pushing it then. No more jokes at his expense._

“Sorry, Gaara. I didn’t mean to encroach,” Sakura said carefully. And she really meant it.

“Will you just leave…?” Gaara glared at the floor, his shoulders hunched and fists clenched. Sakura turned to leave and he said one more thing to her. “Please, don’t tell anyone…” It still sounded like an order, even though he said ‘please’.

Sakura left the shelter. Telling the woman that she’d come back and choose a pet next time. After some persuasion the truck managed to get her home. When it stopped Sakura let out a sigh. _I must have really stepped on his toes about this. I hope he doesn’t stay too mad. Or we’ll never get this project done._

When Gaara got home that day he went straight to his room. His foster dad was passed out on the sofa, a beer threatening to fall from his hand. **Bum**. As soon as he was in his room he quietly shut the door so as not to wake him and incur a violent wrath. He threw his bag on the floor and fell into bed, not bothering to take off his shelter clothes.

“Why was she there?” Gaara asked no one. **I hate being surprised. And now she can use this against me.** Gaara groaned and rolled over so that his face was submerged in a pillow. **Damn.** Gaara figured he better be prepared for everyone to know about it tomorrow.

“I can’t believe I begged her not to tell…” he growled into the pillow, extremely displeased with himself.

***

Sakura avoided Gaara all day. Whenever she saw that he was coming her way she’d slip down a different hall and take an alternate route to class. He seemed to notice her dodging him. _I don’t know why I’m ducking him. I didn’t tell so I have nothing to be ashamed of. Maybe I’m just afraid he’s still mad._

 **She keeps avoiding me.** He felt a surge of anger rising up. **She must have told someone**. **I’ll make her regret it if she did.**

She managed to keep away from him all day and for that she was grateful. _I feel like I trespassed on something of his and deserve to get thumped for it._

“What are you doing, Sakura?” Ino’s voice popped up behind her.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re peeking around corners before you go around them. It’s kinda stalker-ish. And you’re creeping me out…”

Sakura didn’t realize she looked so strange _. I’m such a creeper! All because I think Gaara’s mad at me. I need to set the record straight. I don’t want him thinking I betrayed him or something_. Sakura rolled her eyes. _Why should I even care? It’s not like we’re friends anyway._

Practice ran late again and Sakura certainly noticed that a certain red haired Goth kid was waiting on the curb for his ride the whole time. She repeated her routine from last time and waited to make sure everyone left. When she came out Gaara was still sitting there but he was reading. He looked tense; stiff.

She sat down next to him again and pulled a cigarette. She lit it and offered him the pack and lighter. He didn’t take it. Sakura shrugged and put it away.

“I didn’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re freaking out about,” Sakura puffed. “And I’m not going to tell anyone, so chill.”

“Why not?” he asked, relaxing a little. His face never changed from serious. **I would.**

“You asked me not to,” she replied. “And to be honest you’re scary so I don’t want to really piss you off. Even if you do have a fondness for kittens.”

He was a little relieved that she wasn’t so spiteful. If it were him and he had something on her he would have told any person he passed in the hall. They were silent. Then he reached out for the cigarettes. She rummaged through her bag and gave them to him. _He must feel kinda vulnerable. Having something like that discovered. I bet he really was worried I’d tell. I suppose could even the playing field._

“You know,” Sakura started. “I got kicked out of three schools in middle school. For fighting.”

Gaara breathed in the cigarette. “So? That’s not that bad…”

“I kicked a girl while she was on the ground until I heard a crack. I broke two of her ribs all because she called me a name I can’t even remember. Another was a boy and I punched four of his teeth out and gave him a black eye. I had to get stitches on my hand but I still felt like he deserved it for taking my lunch. And the last was another girl. She spat on my uniform so I made her drink out of a toilet bowl until she said she was sorry a dozen times.”

Gaara looked over with a blank expression but his eyes showed a little disbelief **. How violent. I change my mind about her not being spiteful. It’s hard to believe that she’s scared of anything.** Gaara almost felt like she would get along well with his foster dad.

“I didn’t stop fighting until I met Ino. We got into a fist fight that ended with two black eyes, a sprained wrist and twelve gashes between us. Then somehow she got me into cheerleading. Told me I could use all that repressed anger and scream at games,” Sakura laughed.

“Why are you telling me this?” Gaara finally asked.

“Because now, I’m going to ask you not to tell anyone about it. My friends don’t know. My cheerleading team has no clue. No one at this school except Ino knows about it. And now you. Think you can keep it to yourself?” she asked.

Gaara blinked. **She’s trusting me with this information? What a stupid thing to do. I could turn all her friends against her or get her kicked off the cheerleading squad with that info**. Gaara shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess,” he said as he inhaled more tobacco poison. **I’ll keep it in my back pocket for later, just like she’s certain to keep what she knows in hers.** Sakura sighed with relief _. Good. That would really suck if he wouldn’t keep it a secret._

They were quiet for a while after that. They went through another cigarette before anyone spoke again.

“So, why do you and your group hate us?” Sakura asked. She faked an extremely preppy accent. “Is it cause we’re preppy? And oh so popular?”

Gaara shrugged, unimpressed by her impersonation of a stereotypical cheerleader. “Probably because we’re polar opposites…My sister doesn’t hate you though…”

Sakura snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, sure. And Neji’s secretly a feminist,” she joked.

Gaara looked at her with a serious stare. “I’m not kidding.”

Sakura just made a quizzical look at him lifting an eyebrow higher than she intended. He gave a sigh before puffing the cigarette. **I can’t believe I’m talking to her. This girl who radiates sunshine and rainbows. Makes me want to vomit.**

“She used to be a cheerleader too,” he revealed. Sakura’s jaw dropped. _NO WAY_! Seeing the look on Sakura’s face he knew she wanted him to continue. “She was kicked off the team freshman year because she got her tongue and nose pierced. She got a tattoo as well. Her teammates ostracized her until she quit.”

Sakura frowned. _What? Just because she got some piercings and a tattoo? They stopped talking to her because of that?_

“She’s jealous of you all. She’d _kill_ to be one of you guys again…” Gaara put out his cigarette on the curb.

“Why doesn’t she try out?” Sakura asked. Gaara shrugged; he didn’t know. “If she’s any good I’m sure the team would let her on…”

He looked at her with sarcastic disbelief written on his face. **I highly doubt that.** “Tell that to your cheer bunnies. Bet they’d all choke on their tongues. None of you know where she’s coming from. She’d never feel accepted, only judged.”

Sakura asked if he should be telling his sister’s secrets to people and he responded that he didn’t care what happened to his sister. Somehow Sakura didn’t believe him. If he didn’t care, then why tell her at all? One thing was for sure, Temari wouldn’t join unless there was someone on the team that she could relate to. And right now, there was no one like that on her squad.

“Why did you defend Sasuke earlier? When Kin was ragging on you,” Gaara wondered, it was his turn for a question. He wasn’t really sure why he wanted to know.

Sakura blushed while looking at her toes and Gaara easily noticed. **Oh, I see. She has a crush on him.** He felt a need to warn her.

“You should be careful around Sasuke…He’s a wolf pretending to be a puppy…”

Sakura was offended by his claim. She really didn’t want to punch him too. So far he seemed reasonable and he didn’t seem likely to make a wild accusation. She only pouted at him and puffed her cigarette.

“Like you would know. Hmph…” she moped.

“I know him better than you do,” he claimed. The car finally arrived and Gaara got up. “Later Cheerleader.”

He began walking away before she jumped up from her seat on the curb.

“Sunday! Come over on Sunday and we’ll work on the project,” she ran up to him and stopped him. Sakura grabbed his cold hand without much thought and jotted down her address and phone number in case she didn’t see him later. She expected him to jerk out of her hand but he waited until she released it.  “Around 2 or so. Alright? Don’t be late!”

Gaara shrugged his shoulders like he didn’t care and got in the car. Her hands were so warm and slightly callused; not what he was expecting from a girl. He looked at the note on his hand. **And her handwriting is terrible. She should be a doctor.**  
  
 They left and Sakura stood there thinking. _So Temari was a cheerleader…Maybe we don’t see eye to eye but we could definitely use another girl on the team._ A little bit of her also wanted to get Temari to join to rub it in Gaara’s face. To show him that she could do something he claimed was impossible. Sakura loved a challenge more than anything else. What would it take to get her to join?

“She needs someone to relate to…” Sakura whispered as she finished off the last of her cigarette.

***

Friday. The day before game day. Sakura was getting jittery and it wasn’t even because of the game. The night before, soon after Gaara left, she made a decision. She wanted Temari Sabaku to join the cheer squad. Mostly because Gaara said she wouldn’t be able to; she loved proving people wrong. And there was only one way to do it. It was making her nervous sitting in the tattoo parlor. _I can’t believe I’m doing this. A piercing!_  Sakura did a lot of debating and finally gave in. _I’ve never been so spontaneous._

“Haruno, Sakura.”

Sakura stood up quickly and went up. _No turning back now_! The guy had more piercings than Gaara and that’s saying something. He had black hair except for his bangs which were electric blue. His nametag said ‘Hello! My name is Adrian’ on it.  He adjusted his glasses as he asked for ID and since she was over 16 he led her into the booth.

“So what’s it going to be, Miss Sakura?” he asked with interest.

“Uh…A…belly-button piercing,” she stammered. _I said it!_ She took her seat.

“Good choice. Just remember that this piercing takes the longest to heal that I know of. It can take 3 months or it can take 12 if you’re a slow healer. You still want it?” he asked.

She nodded, not trusting herself to say yes. Sakura leaned back in the chair and raised her shirt over her belly. He sterilized the area and at this point Sakura closed her eyes. _Oh god I’m actually doing this! Breathe slowly in and out. Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out._

“I’ll tell you what’s happening as I do it, ok?” he said and she nodded but kept her eyes squeezed shut. He laughed. “This must be your first body piercing. I just sterilized the area and marked where the stud will go with a little marker. This clamp is going to hold the area we’ll pierce in place.”

Sakura wasn’t looking but she felt the clamp. _It’s happening! No turning back!_

There was a sudden sharp pinch and Sakura bit back a yelp.

“All done!” he grinned.

 _Huh_? Her bellybutton throbbed but that was all. _He didn’t even warn me._ “R-Really?”

He helped her stand up and showed her to the mirror. _Oh my god! I did it! It’s in!_ She turned to the side and looked. _What will Gaara think?_ She swished away the thought. _Who cares? I did it!_ When she turned to her piercer she was flashed by a Polaroid.

“I had to get your face. I take pictures of everyone’s first time,” he smiled sincerely while he shook the photograph. _That’s a little creepy…_ He opened up a binder and showed her some of the grinning faces of people’s first piercings. They dated back over 5 years. Sakura flipped through hoping to find a certain two people she knew.

“Looking for a friend?” he asked. “What do they look like?”

She described them best she could and he nodded. He knew exactly who she was talking about. After flipping a dozen or so pages forward he stopped.

“This her?” he asked and Sakura nodded. Temari was sticking her tongue out making a face. She was smiling. _She didn’t know it was going to get her kicked out_.  “She got her tongue and nose pierced in one day. A tattoo too. Pretty brave. The other one you described was much earlier…”

He went back near the end of the book. They found Gaara. Sakura would have never guessed that Gaara’s first piercings were his ears. Two sets in fact. His angry glare at the camera showed he wasn’t happy about his photo being taken. Something about that didn’t surprise Sakura in the least.

“He actually has an appointment with me next week. Another lip piercing I think,” he struggled to remember. “Or it’s another eyebrow one? One of those. He doesn’t exactly have any more room on his ears.”

The photo was finished developing and it showed the amazed and disbelieving face of Sakura. She looked ready to laugh in victory, at least before she realized her photo was being taken. Otherwise she would have laughed. But she did look happy. He dated it and slid the photo into his scrap book of ‘firsts’.

Sakura thanked him for the piercing and paid him. He gave her a little bottle of cleaning solution and explained carefully how to take care of the piercing. She should be careful not to be too active for the next couple of weeks and if it should hurt more than just soreness come in and have it looked at. _He’s really nice, he even gave me a paper with instructions and a number to call if I had questions._

She was a little concerned about the not being able to do her cheers for a little while _. Maybe I can fake an injury_. Sakura thought that would work for now. It would keep her from doing cheers for a bit and let herself heal. _I’ll wrap up my ankle and just say that it’s a bad sprain. That could give me a week without flips and cartwheels_.

All things considered Sakura felt great. It didn’t hurt as much as she thought. _If it’s going to feel like this until it heals I’ll be fine._

***

 _I am not going to be fine_. _Just let me DIE._ Saturday morning and her stomach hurt like hell. _Oh my god what have I done? It hurts!_ Sakura lay on her back all night and she was incredibly sore. But she got up and went to the bathroom anyway. She ran a shower and washed up all the while relishing the warm water on her belly. After she got out she dried off and used the cleaning solution on the wound. Then carefully dabbed it dry with a paper towel.

“I…must…have…ASPIRIN…”she groaned as she popped one in and dry swallowed it. She took two just in case. She put the bottle and the cleaning solution in her bag with her. _This is going to be one painful day._

Before leaving to go to the game, Sakura wrapped some gauze around her ankle and wore sandals instead of flip flops. That should work. She practiced limping a little and found her act to be satisfactory. Now all she had to do was get to the gym for the basketball game, maybe run into Temari if she was attending, and convince her to join them.

_That shouldn’t be too hard._


	3. Taking a Stand

Chapter 3: Taking a Stand

“What the hell happened to you?” Ino exclaimed when Sakura finally made it to the Gym. Sakura gave a half hearted laugh. _Here goes nothing_. Tenten gasped at her ankle and said that this was terrible. _Let’s put that drama class to work._

“My foot got caught when I hopped out of my car yesterday and I twisted it. Doctor says no cheering for a week or more,” Sakura lied with a sad smile. Her teammates believed her and didn’t question. She didn’t often lie to her friends, though she’d been doing it more and more lately.

“You can still cheer; you just can’t do any of the tricks,” Ino corrected _. I suppose that’s right_. “We’ll just ix-nay on the tricks for you. No problem.”

“Sorry guys,” Sakura apologized. “Have any of you seen Gaara’s sister?”

“Pffft! Like she’d come to a game!” Ino laughed. Tenten joined in.

Sakura was thinking that she might. _If she still wants to cheer like Gaara said then maybe she’s watching. Somewhere._  Sakura went and got changed. _Never have I been happier to wear a uniform that covered the midriff._   She’d end up telling Ino about it later. But for now, she kept it to herself.

As she left the locker room Sakura was surprised to see Sasuke coming up to her.

“Sakura, I heard you twisted your ankle. You okay?” he asked. His concern looked genuine. _He seems so nice to me._

“Oh, yeah. I’m okay. I just can’t be as feisty as I normally am…” she joked while blushing. “I’ll still be cheering you on. Don’t worry…”

“Good to hear. See you after we kick some rival school ass,” he pumped his fist then waved after he went back to his gathered team. She waved back at him. _Gaara’s wrong. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about._

Nearly half the game went by and Sakura’s school was in the lead. They were winning by a landslide. It seemed that the other team wasn’t putting up much of a fight _. In the bag!_ She spotted Temari hiding in the background watching them and Sakura felt lucky again. _I’ll try to keep an eye on her for later._ Around half time her stomach was hurting once more.

_Thank god for Half time!_ She excused herself and went to the bathroom. While there she popped more aspirin and inspected her belly. _Ouch. It looks worse today than yesterday_. She heard someone coming too late. Temari walked in and saw Sakura eyeing the piercing. Sakura felt her luck couldn’t be better.

“When did you get a piercing, prep?” Temari asked trying to look annoyed.

“I wanted to talk to you Temari!” Sakura ran over as fast as her tummy would let her.

“Yeah, what do you want?” she shrunk back as Sakura got close.

“I heard from…a reliable source…that you used to be a cheerleader. Is it true?” she asked sure that it was. _I don’t think Gaara would lie about that._

“Tch. Not that it’s any of your god damn business but yeah. I quit because my team hated me for getting my nose and tongue pierced,” Temari stuck out her tongue as if Sakura didn’t believe her. “My teammates two years ago were bitches. Said it ruined the squad’s image. Why does it even matter? It’s not like I’d want to go back to that.”

_Liar_. Temari was looking to the side, never actually giving her full attention to Sakura. Temari went to a sink and washed her hands looking a bit pouty. _Who is she trying to convince_? _Me? Because she’s doing a piss poor job…_

“You know…Since I just got my belly button pierced we’re short a person. If you wanted you could join us for practice after school. Just thought I’d run it by you,” Sakura rambled as she washed the solution off her hands in the sink. “In case you were interested…”

Temari looked up from the sink at Sakura, her brows furrowed but a spark behind her dark eyes. Sakura left knowing that her little seed of hope had been planted firmly in Temari’s heart. She’d know if she was successful on Monday at practice. For now though, _I’ve got to get back to the game._

Konoha High squashed Wave Prep. All the screaming made Sakura and her cheerleaders inaudible. Sasuke was giving high fives to his team but namely Kiba. They were the top scorers on the team and they made sure everyone knew it. Full of pride to the last guy.

The team hit the showers. And the cheerleaders did too. Sakura wasn’t going though; she really didn’t do much in comparison to her team. _We owned them!_ _And their cheer squad was a bunch of pansies! We ousted them in both aspects! WOOO!_ Sakura was stoked.  She waited outside the locker room for Ino and Tenten. But someone approached her.

“Sakura? Can I talk to you?” asked a voice behind her. Behind the bleachers was Sasuke and he was signaling for her to come over. _It’s_ _a dream come true!! Sasuke wants to have a private talk with me!_

She nodded her head and fake limped over. _Maybe he’s going to ask me how I am? Or maybe out on a date?! Or maybe he wants to marry me?!? Ok, so that’s a little overboard…_

“Great win right?” he asked. Sasuke looked confident as usual. “I’m still pumped though. They should have put up more of a fight…”

“Yeah, what a bunch of weaklings!” Sakura laughed. Sasuke kept looking over to the showers but no one was coming out to interrupt them.

“I was thinking, Sakura, you and me…”he started and got a little closer. Pressing her against the bleacher pole. “Maybe we could go somewhere and expend some of this extra energy.”

Sakura’s eyes got wide with the insinuation. _Did Sasuke just ask me…_ She couldn’t believe it. Sasuke got close and his shadow loomed over her.

“Uh, Sasuke what are you doing?” she asked. Why was he getting so close to her? Before he hardly talked to her but now he was interested? It seemed a little out of character. A little too fast.

“Come on Sakura, I heard that you really like me and I’m offering to spend some time with you tonight.”

She blushed at the thought. _He wants to have sex with me! No dates, no friendship. Just sex!_ Who did he think she was?

“No, Sasuke. I’m not-”

Sasuke pushed his body against hers and bumped her bellybutton stud. Sakura winced with a little pain.

“Ow! No, Sasuke get off of me!” she finally fought back, pushing with her hands.

“Don’t be such a prude. I’m a nice guy, aren’t I? Isn’t that what you wanted?” he smirked grabbing her wrist. “A nice handsome guy. Athletic. Experienced. Ready and willing.”

“What’s going on over there?” asked someone at the other end. He let go and backed up a little. It was the coach. Sasuke reverted back to the nice version; to a kind smile instead of a pompous smirk.

“Nothin’ coach. Sakura was just telling me about a new cheer,” he said. _Liar!_

The coach told him to hurry up and get over there. Sasuke needed to get home or his father was going to kill him. He gave in and started walking off but not before saying something else to Sakura.

“I don’t give up easily. And I don’t take no for an answer,” he told her. “I always get what I want.”

Sakura couldn’t believe it. _Where did this other Sasuke come from? He was so forward and rude. Sasuke was trying to pressure me into sex with him. And here I thought that he actually might like me!_ She felt tricked. More than that she felt like a fool. She left with Ino to the parking lot, feeling safer with friends around.

She kept an eye out for the basketball captain thinking he might try again. His car was nowhere in sight though; relief washed over her with a deep breath. Then she saw Temari standing next to her truck, leaning on the tailgate and picking at her nails. This gave Sakura a hopeful smile. She told Ino that she would see her later. She waved good-bye to her friends and made it to her vehicle with vigor. _Maybe she made up her mind._

“Decide to try?” asked Sakura. Temari shook her head.

“No. I wanted to ask you something,” the blonde stared at her dead on.

“Go ahead.”

“I saw what happened a few minutes ago. With Sasuke,” Temari revealed. Sakura gulped. _I didn’t know anyone was watching. Her clique really is invisible._ Temari’s question finally came. “Why didn’t you go with him? I thought you wanted him.”

“I do. Or I did. But I’m not like that,” Sakura tried to explain without sounding stupid. “Ino probably would’ve done it in a heartbeat but I don’t want to be forced or tricked into it. I’m not a toy; I won’t be used like that.”

Temari just stared upon Sakura’s dejected face _. I can’t believe that’s what Sasuke is really like. He’s nothing like I imagined…but how could I have known? How could anyone know with the façade he puts up?_ Sakura blinked in realization. _Gaara knew._

“Hmm. You’re not as dumb as I thought. Okay, I’ll try it,” Temari said, waking Sakura from her thoughts. _She will?_

“Really? You will?” Sakura asked, trying to make sure she didn’t mishear.

“But my piercings stay in, got it?” Temari tried to look smug. She put her hand out for Sakura to shake and the pink cheerleader took it enthusiastically. The shaking resulted in clinks from Temari’s chain bracelets. _Great! I’m not sure why but this is awesome!! I can’t wait to tell Gaara! Booya in your face!_

***

Sakura just finished going over with her parents that a classmate was coming over. That he wasn’t like her usual classmates. He dressed differently and had a very unusual attitude about things. She tried to warn them that he might not behave as nice as her usual guests and not to fight with him.

“Why are you so worried about this Sakura? Are you afraid we’ll embarrass you?” her mother asked.

“You know, Sakura, we were teenagers once too. We know what it means to be a rebellious youth and we’re not going to fault your friend for that…” Her father chuckled. “I remember those days, don’t you honey? Your bell bottoms…”

She responded with a smile. “Your long hair…”

“All that weed…” he sighed. Sakura snorted in surprised laughter.

“Don’t tell your daughter that! She’ll think its okay to smoke!” her mother objected with fist to his head but her face was brilliant red in embarrassment. “The 70s were a different time, Sakura. Don’t replicate it in these times with your modern day equivalents!” She pointed at her.

_Jeez they are so embarrassing. But now I know that dad smoked weed and maybe that’ll come in handy if he happens to catch me smoking…_ Sakura put that bit of info in her mental lexicon for future use. The doorbell rang. It was only 1:45. He was early. Her parents were still reminiscing about tie-dye shirts.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” Sakura said sarcastically when neither of her parents made a move to answer it.

She opened the door and there stood Gaara in all his Goth infamy. Black chained pants and a My Chemical Romance T-shirt. He wasn’t wearing as many spiked bracelets but had a spiked leather collar around his neck. The piercings were all there too. But he had one earring with a little chain that connected to the ring in his lip. _Woah…that’s different._

“You’re early,” she said letting him in.

“You told me not to be late…”

_I guess I did say that_. Sakura’s parents were peeking in from the kitchen to get a good look at their guest. Neither was nearly as unnerved by him as she thought they might be. They were used to her cheerleader friends but this contemporary vampire hardly fazed them at all.

“Nice to meet you Gaara,” Sakura’s father came out of the kitchen and to Sakura’s amazement Gaara shook his hand. Sakura’s mother said hello as well and Gaara gave her a little bow. _I’m surprised; I thought he’d be all rude-ass like at school._

“So…we have work to do, so, see you Mom. Dad.” Sakura led Gaara to a computer room with two chairs set up. Gaara and Sakura took their seats and turned on the computer.

“Your parents are nice,” Gaara said. **They weren’t judging when they saw me.** She didn’t feel any sarcasm in his voice so she had to assume he was being genuine.

“I suppose. They were hippies apparently…” Sakura sweat-dropped thinking about the weed conversation.

Gaara produced a flash drive with the PowerPoint outline. He already had some pictures ready. They were pictures of what some animals looked like before they came to the shelter and afterwards. Some were pretty gruesome and entailed broken bones, emaciation, and straight up cuts and scrapes.

“These are pretty graphic,” Sakura grimaced, feeling a little squeamish. _The abuse these animals go through…_

“There were worse,” he told her. **She’s such a lightweight considering the damage she’s caused people. And I’ve endured worse than some of these dogs.** They started setting up pictures into slides and typing in info about each animal.

Sakura felt a twinge of pain in her stomach and winced. It seemed to her that it went unnoticed. She then remembered about Temari and exploded.

“I asked Temari about joining the squad. She says she’s going to try it! I already talked to my coach about it. Seems that the last coach was really strict about piercings and tattoos but Kurenai thinks it’ll be alright. Pretty cool, huh?” Sakura rambled on. Gaara didn’t seem to really care. Not even a questioning glance to suggest that he doubted her. She was hoping he’d be surprised.

“Whatever,” he said. “It gets her out of my hair and it stops her bitching about how unfair her life is.”

“Yikes, you think you could be a little nicer. She’s your sister.”

“She doesn’t know what it means to have a rough life,” he glared and the conversation was over. **And neither do you.**

Sakura shut up and went on clicking _. There’s totally some animosity there. Not cool_. There were so many questions she wished she could ask Gaara but she knew that the answers would not be forthcoming. _I’d just end up making him mad._ She leaned forward a little in her seat and winced again.

“Ugh, this hurts…” she placed a hand on her stomach.

“Cramps? Take some Midol…”

“I’m not on my period!” she yelled. _Insensitive prick._

Gaara stared for a minute trying to ascertain her thoughts. He didn’t have to because she just spilled it after a few seconds. **Give her a look and she spills her guts.**

“I got a piercing and I didn’t know it would hurt this bad…” she relinquished the information **. She got a belly button piercing?** His eyes got a little wide. “It’s so sore…”

“Let me see,” he ordered. And Sakura nearly jumped out of her seat.

“You crazy? We’re alone in my computer room and you want me to lift my shirt so you can get some kind of high from looking at my piercing? You freak! My parents could come in too you know…and I don’t want them to know about it yet…”

“Whatever, if you want some kind of infection then by all means… keep your shirt on.”

Sakura took a minute to consider it. She looked down the hall and it didn’t sound like anyone was coming. _Alright, just a quick look._

“Okay, just hurry up and look at it,” she said as she raised her shirt. She kept looking at the door as if someone would come in.

Gaara gazed at it intently **. It’s just a little irritated. She needs to wear more midriff tops to let the air get to it**. He didn’t want to admit it but she had a really nice toned stomach… **perfect for the silver belly button stud.**

“Is it okay? Is it infected? Do I have gangrene? Am I going to DIE?!” her voice escalating as her questions went on. **God I can’t stand that exaggeration of hers**. **It’s so grating.**

“It’s fine. You need to let the air get to it more,” he said as he reluctantly pulled his gaze away from her stomach.

“You sure?” she said.

“Sakura, I have 15 piercings…I have enough experience to be sure…”

He could see her counting his piercings as if she didn’t believe him. _Two in the ‘eyebrow’ and one in his bottom lip. 6 on each ear. Huh, I thought he’d have you know…’other’ piercings too…Hey, did he just…?_

“Hey! You called me Sakura!! Not ‘cheerleader’,” she smiled.

“So what?” he was irked. **What’s the big deal?**

“Nothing, just thought it was interesting…” she went back to her seat with a grunt. _Tummy troubles._

They were quiet while they worked; only breaking the silence if they needed to. Her mother came in once and brought them some cookies and juice but otherwise they were left uninterrupted. Sakura noticed how he downed them quickly, and who could fault him? They were delicious. The two had the project almost completely done _. If he hadn’t already planned out an outline then this would have taken forever. We’ll be finished by the end of today. There’s still a whole week until it’s due._

If they finished now then they wouldn’t have to meet up for the rest of the week. Something about that was disappointing _. I’ll see him after my practice though. No reason I can’t talk to him. He’s kinda short tempered but he’s okay. Nowhere near as cute or sweet as Sasuke…Oh._ Sakura just remembered about Sasuke’s rather disturbing behavior.

“How did you know about Sasuke?” she said cutting the silence.

Gaara gave a questioning glance at Sakura and her face told him everything he needed to know. **He must have made a pass at her.** Sakura’s brow furrowed; she was definitely bothered by it. **Did she say no?**

“He’s an animal. Just ignore him…” he said.

“I know that now…but how did you know?” Sakura questioned. _He’s avoiding the question._

“None of your business. I just knew,” he tried to end it. It was a part of his personal life too and he didn’t want to tell her about it.

“But I really want to know,” she said.

“Tough shit,” he responded, retreating further into himself.

Sakura pouted _. This isn’t fair_. Her curiosity was killing her. _Why won’t he tell me? Is this going to be another one of those, ‘I’ll tell you something if you tell me something’ moments?_

“I’ll tell you a secret if you tell me one…” she tried baiting him.

**Not going to work.** “No, drop it. Or I’ll leave…”

Sakura sighed and gave up. _Fine. If he doesn’t want to talk about it, no use trying._ Sakura sat back in the seat while Gaara leaned forward in his to make adjustments to the PowerPoint. That’s when she saw it. She didn’t notice before but there was a mark on his neck. _Oh. My. God_. Sakura was sure it was a hickey but as she peered a little closer it was just a small purple bruise. Staring at it longer showed that there were actually four small bruises.

“Holy whack, what happened to your neck?” she asked bewildered.

Gaara quickly put a hand up to cover it **. I thought this spiked collar hid them better.** He looked at his watch and his eyes widened momentarily. **Shit. I stayed too long.**

“Again, none of your business so butt out,” he said sternly **.** “I’m going home. We’re done today.”

He saved the file and took his flash drive. Gaara picked up his bag and started stomping his way to the front door. _Did I say something wrong_? Sakura followed close behind. _Where did those bruises come from?_

“Oh, Gaara are you leaving already?” asked Sakura’s mother.

“Yes, Mrs. Haruno. I need to head home before my father gets there,” he said politely but without emotion. “Thank you for having me. It was nice meeting you.”

And with that he went out the door; his hand still firmly on his neck. Sakura just stared out the window as he passed by and walked down the street. _He always seems to get set off by something I say._

“How sad,” said Mrs. Haruno, watching  Gaara go.

“He’s not that bad, mom. You should see him with in full goth mode,” Sakura informed her.

“That’s not what I meant Sakura. He just looks so defeated,” she sighed.

_Oh. I didn’t notice. I thought she meant sad as in pathetic. He didn’t look sad to me. He just looked pissed. Hope he’s alright…_

***

Gaara came into the house and immediately a beer bottle was thrown at his head. It missed but the smashed glass shattered everywhere making nothing safe.

“Where the hell were you?!”

“I was at a friend’s, working on homework,” he said defensively.

“Bullshit! I’ll bet you were fucking around and getting high again. Talk back to me and I’ll beat your ass.”

Gaara insisted this time. “I wasn’t talking back. I was really at a friend’s house doing homework.”

His foster dad grabbed him by the throat and hit him in the gut. It knocked the wind out of him and he hit the ground gasping for air. **Damn him.** When he stood up Gaara was hit again. He doubled over but managed to straighten back up and glare at his foster dad. The response to which was a hard smack to the face. His lip was bleeding where his piercing was.

“Lie to me again and it won’t just be your face,” he said, his breath smelling like whiskey. “I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.”

Gaara walked to his room without saying a word. **I already do**. He closed his door quietly because the last thing he wanted to do was slam it and get more punishment. He threw his bag down and looked in the mirror on his door. The piercing was a little torn. But it would heal. Gaara took the ring out and dabbed the area with a stinging alcohol pad.

**Dammit all. It’s because I wasted too much time at her house. I was only supposed to stay for 2 hours, that way I’d get back before dumbass here would realize I was gone.** **Her home had been so nice though**. **Quiet, clean, and comfortable. I lost track of time**. He wasn’t too hungry and probably wouldn’t get dinner tonight anyway after that beating.

“This is the second day I’ve gone without food,” Gaara whispered. **At least I ate at her place. Cookies and juice isn’t much but it’ll have to last me until tomorrow night.** He put liquid bandage on his lip and fell into bed.

**Her family is really nice. She doesn’t know how lucky she is to have them.** His stomach wasn’t hurting from the earlier blows anymore and eventually he fell asleep. **I’ll take all the punches; all the kicks. After all, I can take it.**

***

“You want to know about Gaara?” Naruto raised a brow quizzically. “What about him?”

“Does he get into fights a lot?” she asked.

“Sort of. He would try to pick a fight with someone but never threw any punches. I noticed that a lot as a kid. We used to be good friends when we were little,” Naruto told her. “He’d always say that he deserved it.”

_‘I fight my own battles’_

_What a crock. Apparently you don’t fight at all. It’s no wonder you have bruises on your neck. I’m going to tell a teacher as soon as I can about this. We may not be great friends but no one deserves injuries like that._

Ino came bounding up to Naruto and Sakura. The look on her face told everyone she had juicy gossip or was about to create some. Either way Ino definitely had something to say.

“Oh my god, I just saw Gaara and I think he got his ass beat! He has this really awful cut on his lip! It’s about time someone socked him one for his attitude. His neck looks pretty bad too,” Ino snickered then joked, “It wasn’t you was it, Sakura?” Sakura didn’t see what was so funny about that.

“I’ll be right back,” Sakura ran off leaving her friends to watch her bounce away.

She saw Gaara sitting at his usual table with his usual friends. Temari, Kin, and Zaku were all there. Sakura approached and they all went quiet.

“Gaara, can I talk to you?” Sakura asked. _I want to take care of this now before class starts_.

“Leave him alone cheer bunny,” Zaku told her but he looked hesitant in insulting her much more. “He’s not in the mood for your ‘pep’ talk.”

Before the group was all insults and snickers but today they seemed more serious, as if afraid to push the envelope too far. She thought it had something to do with Gaara’s injuries. Maybe they were worried about him. Or it may have had something to do with Sakura punching Kin in the nose _. Bitch had it coming…_ Sakura reminded herself so she wouldn’t start feeling sorry for her.

“Get lost,” Kin said and Sakura glared at her making her flinch. _She’s asking for another one…_

“Come on Gaara, I want to talk to you. Without your _leeches_ around,” Sakura eyed them as she talked. Gaara got up and followed her over to a place near a table that was away from his crew.

After making sure they were out of earshot Sakura started.

“What happened to you? Is someone beating you up?” she asked. His lip was swollen with a dark scab that barely looked healed. If someone even touched it, it was likely to start bleeding.

“No, I got into a fight,” Gaara grumbled, wondering why he was even talking to her.

“It was your foster da-”

“Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he growled, moving his face close to hers to make her be quiet. **She’s too god damned nosy for her own good.**

Sakura couldn’t believe it _. His foster dad is beating him and he wants me to shut up about it? Doesn’t he care that what’s happening to him is wrong? If he just told a teacher then they could stop the abuse._

**I wish she’d just back off and let the issue die. I’m not asking for help; I don’t want help. She can only make it worse by telling adults. There’s no way to prove my old man is doing this and in retaliation he’ll just make it that much worse for me.**

“What do you care anyway? It’s not your problem,” he sighed **.**

Sakura’s eyes suddenly darkened. _I was feeling sorry for him but now I’m just mad._ She took a deep breath through her nose and belted out at him. “Why do I care?! Why?!” She grit her teeth, throwing her hands in the air multiple times before hissing at him “I don’t need a reason to want to help someone!  No one deserves abuse!”

_He’s being so obstinate about this_. _Does he think he is being tough by hanging in there and being a punching bag? This isn’t right no matter what the reasoning is!_ She took a deep breath and exhaled. _Calm down. Getting angry won’t help_. Sakura’s expression relaxed as she looked at him.

“I’d like to think we’re friends Gaara and I don’t want you getting hit. Whatever you think you did to ‘deserve’ this, is stupid. If I see new bruises on you after today I’m going to tell a teacher. Make him stop hitting you or I will!”

They both had a stare down. Neither one lessening their glare. His teal, yet almost green, eyes seemed to glare right through her but she didn’t back down. Her fists were clenched and her stance firm, with emerald eyes shining back. **Cheerleader actually has a backbone…** Gaara rolled his eyes in resignation.

“Tch, whatever,” he said as he walked away back to his table.

Sakura smiled _. I guess that’s the closest thing I’m going to get to an agreement on his part._ She decided she’d go back to her group before the first class started.

*** A few minutes earlier***

Naruto and Ino watched as Sakura ran off to Gaara’s table of ghoulies. Ino figured Sakura was going over there to pick a fight but Naruto knew otherwise. He noticed that Sakura’s opinions about the Goth kid were changing and all this information gathering was just the start.

Sasuke just arrived and Naruto gave him a fist bump.

“What’s up?”

“Great game Saturday Sasuke,” Ino sighed, little hearts could be seen behind her gaze. Naruto agreed with her.

Sasuke looked across the cafeteria and saw Sakura’s face get angry as she talked to Gaara. He smiled thinking she was bitching him out for being a social outcast and loser. He liked girls with energy.

“What’s she yelling at him for?” Sasuke asked. They both shrugged.

“Maybe their having trouble on their PowerPoint project,” Ino guessed.

Sasuke watched more, enjoying the show. She was moving her arms in annoyance and if it could be said she looked even angrier. There was a long strong glare between them and Gaara walked off. Then Sasuke saw something on her face he couldn’t believe. She was smiling at Gaara the way she usually smiled at him. It lit a fire under Sasuke to say the least.

“She rejects me but smiles at him…” he said under his breath through clenched teeth. He straightened out his face when he noticed she was heading back over towards her cheer group.

Sakura saw that an addition to the group had been made in the few minutes she was away. _It’s Sasuke_. She debated on how she should behave. _I’ll do what Gaara said. Ignore the jerk_.

“What was that about Sakura?” Ino asked the question that Sasuke himself wanted to ask.

“Uh, I was telling him what a idiot he was for losing a fight,” she said. _It’s kind of true…_

Sasuke shifted the weight of his gym bag. “Oh, I thought you two were having some kind of lover’s spat.”

Sakura laughed and so did Ino. _What between me and Gaara? No way! I only put myself in the middle of his troubles because abuse is wrong and it shouldn’t matter who it is. It’s not like I did this because I like the guy._

“Don’t be stupid,” she said with a perturbed pout. “He and I are from totally different worlds.”


	4. Getting what they Deserve

Chapter 4: Getting what they deserve

Gaara was in his art class painting. It was an abstract landscape piece with reds, oranges, yellows, and black. All forming into a picture that looked somewhat like a dark hill on fire. Then he painted in a dead tree on the top of the hill. It was barren. **Like my life** , he thought sarcastically.

His argument with Sakura was on his mind. **It wasn’t really an argument. It was more threatening on her part and listening on mine**. He couldn’t believe how she stood her ground even though he told her to back off. Usually, he was intimidating enough to stop words in a person’s mouth.

“Stupid girl,” he muttered as he continued to paint.

He stopped for a second to check his progress. Gaara took a step back and looked at it contemplatively while squeezing his lip with his thumb and forefinger. He felt a twinge of pain and quickly pulled his hand away. **Still hurts. A lot.**

 _‘No one deserves abuse!’_ Sakura’s glaring green eyes haunted him.

 **She** **doesn’t know the whole story. Some people deserve to be punished**. Gaara saw there was blood from his lip on his fingers now and he smeared it across the sky in his painting. **She wants to help me though…I suppose that’s admirable in its own way, no matter how misguided her sense of justice is.**

_‘I’d like to think we’re friends Gaara…’_

**Extremely misguided. She thinks we’re friends**. He didn’t know it but for a split second he smirked a smile.

***

Sakura stared off into space in science class. She was at the back so no one’s eyes found themselves wandering to her. _I wonder why Sasuke was so interested in my conversation with Gaara. He’s probably jealous or something. I said no to him. Maybe he thinks I said no because of Gaara._

“What an idiot…” Sakura chuckled as she doodled on her notes. Swirls and flowers; normal girl crap. She looked up a few seats ahead at Naruto and thought maybe she should ask him more about Gaara’s life in foster care _. It may seem insensitive but I want to know more and Gaara won’t tell me, the stubborn mule._ When she looked down Sakura nearly yelped as her eyes fell upon a heart with Gaara’s name in it.

Quickly she scratched it out until it was beyond recognition and bore no semblance of its original content. Immediately she rationalized her behavior. _I was doodling flowers and stuff so naturally I’d draw a heart. And I was thinking about Gaara’s situation so it’s not so strange that I would write his name. It’s just a coincidence that it happened to rest on a heart._ She sighed. _Completely rational._

“I mean, really,” Sakura mumbled under her breath. “Me and Gaara…what a laugh…”

***

When Sakura showed up with Temari at practice a few girls were reluctant. The blonde was wearing black shorts and a black tank top, but at least she took all her bracelets and necklaces off so she looked a little less threatening. But only just.

“You want her to join us?” Ino asked. She stared, dumfounded by this new development. “Does she even know how to do a cartwheel?”

Both Temari and Sakura gave Ino an annoyed stare. _Is this how they’re going to be? I wonder if this is how Temari saw me only days ago. No wonder they hate our guts. I never realized how shallow we appeared._

“I can do anything you can, cheer bunny,” Temari defended herself.

“Alright girls! Let’s start off with some stretching and then we’ll do a 2 mile run,” Kurenai interrupted.

The whistle blew and the squad set to work. Temari did the run as fast as anyone else on the team. In fact she beat Ino’s best time. It turned out that she was a better thrower than Tenten as proven by how high she and another girl tossed Ino into the air. She was impressing everyone, including the coach. Distracted, Sakura noticed that Gaara was at his usual curb and he was actually watching them.

***

 **What is she staring at? Me?** He shook his head. **I’m always here; you think she’d be used to it.**

He pulled out a book and tried to read. He couldn’t. Gaara’s eyes kept finding themselves watching the practice. Sakura wasn’t doing any exercise. **Her stud is probably still bothering her.** He found himself thinking about her piercing lately. Gaara wondered if she was taking care of it properly. **It would be a shame to let it get infected and ruin that perfect stomach.** Gaara swallowed at the thought.

“Why on earth am I thinking about that?” he asked no one.

He tried to busy himself reading again. **She’s not that great. Nosy, selfish, pushy girl. Acting like she can fix my life. I’m the only one who can do anything about that.**

_‘You make him stop hitting you or I will!’_

Gaara could hear her voice ringing in his ear. **What would she do? Go to my house and beat the guy to death?** Gaara paused **. She just might. Or he’ll beat her instead**. Gaara shook his head. **I can’t have that happen. I’ll just have to do something about it myself.**

***

“Time for sprints!” Kurenai blew the whistle and they took off like horses at the Kentucky Derby.

Sakura usually came in first every time; that was why she was team captain. Due to her ‘injury’ though, she was left to keep time for them all. _Temari is amazing! She hasn’t been cheering for 2 years but she still kept in shape. She’s probably better than me…_ It took a lot for Sakura to admit to it.

When the team finished everyone gathered around Temari.

“I never would have thought you were this good!” Ino exclaimed, eyes wide. “I’ve never been so glad to be proven wrong!”

“She’s right. I wish you’d joined our team earlier,” Tenten admitted and then looked to her feet. “I’m sorry. I misjudged you. We all did.”

Temari, clearly not used to this much attention, just blushed. She finally stammered, “Oh, back off, the lot of you. Thank your captain. She convinced me to do this...”

Sakura smiled as she looked on the group. Temari had done a 180. She was smiling and laughing with them, something she didn’t think was possible. _This couldn’t have gone better if I wanted it. They all really like her. Even I thought she was horrible a week ago; now, it’s like she’d always been here._ Gaara was still watching but looked down to a book when Sakura’s gaze rested on him for more than a few seconds.

“This is great,” said Naruto. “She really is pretty good…who’s going to lift her for the games though?”

“Not me,” said Lee. “I am already lifting Tenten and I’m used to working with her.”

Naruto argued, “Well, I can’t. I already volunteered to lift Ino.”

All of the stares fell onto Shikamaru. He stared lazily at the new member.

“How much do you weigh?” he asked Temari nonchalantly. Sakura wanted to hit him but the question wasn’t abnormal for this type of work. It was necessary and not really considered rude.

“How much can you lift?” she shot back a smirk. _Touché._

He tsked and came closer. Shikamaru sized her up by looking closely from head to toe. If she was offended she didn’t show it. In fact, if Sakura didn’t know any better, she’d have thought Temari liked it.

“I can handle you,” Shikamaru concluded but in a suggestive way. She caught the insinuation.

He walked off to the showers and the guys followed him. The girls chuckled and laughed. They had never seen Shikamaru act that way before. Temari just smirked and Sakura noticed how she was checking out his ass. _Wow, she gets comfortable fast, doesn’t she? When you think about it though, this is where she was before getting Gothy. It’s not so strange after all._

They hit the showers and plenty of gossip could be heard all around. When they were done, most left in their own cars. Sakura watched as Temari jumped into a car with a guy inside. He looked like Gaara if Gaara were taller, wider, and a brunette. Not attractive by Sakura’s standards. _What are my standards now? I thought I had good values when it came to people but…everything seems different now. I don’t even know._

Sakura spied Gaara as he watched them drive away. It looked for a second as if there was a twinge of regret on his face. She saw the cut on his lip and took a seat her usual distance from him. _When did this become a usual thing to do?_ She was sure everyone was gone already and pulled out her cigarettes. Without missing a beat his hand reached out for the pack.

“So, Temari is getting pretty comfortable on the team,” Sakura informed him as she lit her cigarette. “She hit on one of the cheer guys. I think he hit on her too…”

“I didn’t ask,” he said as he puffed his cigarette, giving her pack back. **Cheerleader gossip. Not interested.**

Sakura watched him put the cigarette in his mouth away from the cut. She saw the lip piercing was gone. _He must have hit Gaara in the face and ripped it._

“Does that hurt?” she asked and then felt stupid about the question.

“Yes,” he said.

“Does he always hit you in the face?” Sakura inquired.

“No,” he said. “He usually hits my stomach. Or my back. That way no one can see the bruises.”

She was mortified by his forthright information but tried to contain herself. _He talks about it as if it’s normal. Gaara acts like it’s as acceptable as putting on a coat before you go outside. Or wearing an oven mitt before taking out a roast turkey._

“I won’t let him hit me anymore,” he said suddenly.

Sakura gaped. “Is it because of what I said?”

Gaara didn’t want to admit it but it was true. He’d thought about it. **I want to believe what she said about no one deserving that kind of punishment. It’s hard to believe but worth trying. And I’m not going to let her solve my problems for me.**

“That’s great!” Sakura grinned. “And here I thought you didn’t want to be friends…”

Gaara rolled his eyes as he lifted his hand to remove the cigarette and struck the cut. He withheld a curse and let it bleed. **Damn it all. This thing will never heal if I keep touching it.** Sakura reached around in her bag and found her red hair towel.  She offered it. He took it and pressed it to his mouth.

He let out a muffled ‘thanks’. She just nodded and told him not to worry about it.

“How’s your piercing?” he asked through the towel. He was going to ask about her stomach but opted for ‘piercing’ instead seeing as his thought process kept making him think about her smooth belly. He wasn’t a stranger to the typical teenage urges but he could usually control them. It was best not to tempt them too often.

“It’s fine. Hurts still but I don’t wear a shirt to bed so it can get air, like you said. It seems to help,” Sakura told him and took in a deep breath of cigarette. “I should take your advice more often…”

Gaara’s thoughts changed from imagining her sprawled out shirtless on her bed to her last comment. He guessed that she was talking about Sasuke now. **I still haven’t told her about that. She probably still wants to know.**

“Sasuke used to be a foster kid,” he revealed to her. “You still want to know right?”

Sakura’s eyes got wide. She nodded her head without a word.

“He showed up not long after Naruto was adopted. He was only there for a year with me but that was more than enough to know everything I needed about him…” Gaara pulled the towel away and inspected his lip with his finger. The bleeding had stopped but he put the towel back anyway. Just in case.

“He was a possessive kid. If he wanted something, he got it. Sasuke wasn’t opposed to hurting someone to get whatever it was that he wanted. He also wants to be the best. At everything. So he manipulates anyone he can and doesn’t take anyone’s feelings into consideration,” he kept going. After he dropped the cigarette butt and stomped it Gaara went on. “He’s spiteful and doesn’t like being told no. Which means your life is about to get a lot tougher…”

Sakura was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“He made an offer to you, right? Did you say no?” Gaara asked. She nodded with a blush and he continued with a sigh. “Then he’s going to keep trying until he finds someone better than you. Sasuke likes things that he’s told he can’t have. I tried to warn you,” he reminded her.

Sakura now knew the connection between the two. _I really should start listening to Gaara._

Gaara took a deep breath and inhaled the scent from the towel. **Strawberry…or something like it**. He dabbed his lip again making sure the bleeding was completely stopped. Gaara then handed her the towel back.

“I only told you this as thanks for the towel. Not because I want to be friends…” he clarified. “…because I don’t.”

She rolled her eyes with a smile and took her towel. _Sure, whatever. Denial._ She noticed his lip was swollen and she wished there was something in her bag that might help.

“Follow me,” she told him. He reluctantly stood up and followed her to some vending machines. She bought a soda and handed it to him. “Put that on your cut. It’ll help the swelling.”

Gaara reached out and took the cold can. He pressed it to his lip without so much as a thank you. They walked back over to their seat on the curb and plopped down. They were waiting for a while. Sakura had her own car but wanted to make sure Gaara got home, as much as she hated the person who lived there. The cheerleader stretched and fell backwards until she was lying on the ground. Gaara noticed her stomach was showing again. **She’s well sculpted. Athletes have such great bodies…** Gaara was trying not to get distracted by her laying there.

“What’s up? Something wrong?” Sakura asked when she found that Gaara was staring at her piercing. “Is it infected?”

Gaara shook his head and placed his gaze out to the parking lot instead. **What am I thinking? She’s a cheer leader. And I’m…** he looked down at his arm **. I’m so thin and scrawny. Definitely not her type, cliques aside.** Sakura noticed that it was getting dark. His foster dad still wasn’t there yet. She sat up suddenly, regretted it promptly, and then made Gaara an offer.

“If you want, I could give you a ride home,” she said. _It’s the least I could do as much as I hate taking him there._

Gaara was against it. **The last thing I want is her knowing where my house is and starting a riot with my foster dad. But I do need to get home.** He then changed his mind. **I’ll just make sure she drops me off a street away.**

“Fine, just stop where I tell you to and let me out when I ask,” he said as he picked up his bag.

Sakura led the way to the car and hopped in while unlocking the passenger door. Gaara got in and Sakura went through her process of getting the car started. It took a few turns of the key and some kicking but it finally started up with a sputter.

“Your car is a piece of shit…” he smirked and opened the soda she bought. Lemon lime.

“Yeah, I know,” she laughed.

They started out and the only time Gaara talked was to tell her the directions. She played music from the radio and turned it to a rock station. A song she knew came on and she hummed it, too embarrassed to sing with her current company.

“You know Iron Maiden?” he asked. **I pegged her for an Avril Lavigne fan.**

“Sure, I love this stuff. It makes me want to punch things!” she said excitedly. “I feel like I can fight a dozen people at once. It’s really invigorating!”

 **Why are her tendencies so violent? It’s amazing she lasted this long as a cheerleader.** Suddenly a phone was going off. Sakura knew it wasn’t hers because her ringtone was ‘The good, the bad, and the ugly’. This one was a song she didn’t recognize. Gaara pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw the number. His eyes glared as he debated whether to answer it or not.

“It’s my foster dad,” he said.

 **What does that bastard want?**   Sakura turned down the music and he answered it. Sakura listened intently and Gaara noticed. **Nosy little brat.**

“I’m on my way home,” he said. “A girl from school is giving me a ride…”

There was a pause as the guy on the other end responded. Gaara clenched his jaw in anger. _Uh oh._

“Where am I supposed to stay? Tell your bitch whore she can’t stay. It’s my room not hers!” Gaara responded.

There was loud response this time but it was indistinguishable to Sakura. _Oh boy, this isn’t going to be pretty._

“Fine, screw you too,” Gaara growled and he hung up the phone.

“You alright?” she asked after a moment of silence.

“He kicked me out,” he said with a resigned sigh. “My things are on the lawn.”

She stayed quiet as they made it to his house. There wasn’t much but two garbage bags in the yard _. Is that everything he owns?_ Gaara got out, grabbed the bags, and tossed them into the bed of Sakura’s truck. He sank back in the seat with a sigh. He looked lost.

“Where are you going to stay?” she asked.

“Just take me to The Ichi Motel. I’ll rent a room with the money I’ve made over the years and I’ll call my brother Kankuro in the morning…I’ve been thinking about running away for a while now. No time like the present.”

Sakura put it into drive and headed to downtown. It was a 20 minute drive from his foster dad’s. Sakura spent the whole time contemplating. _He just kicked Gaara out. How can someone do that? And he’s so calm about it. Maybe it isn’t the first time._  Sakura couldn’t bring herself to put the music back on. When she glanced over at Gaara she found him staring out the window looking more miserable than angry. _Spend the night in some sleezy motel? No way!_

“Hey Gaara, my parents have a spare bedroom. You could stay the night there until you can call your brother,” she offered.

“Stop pulling my chains…” he said. “I don’t need your charity.”

“No really! Save your money. My parents would be cool with it if I just explain what happened. I’ll tell them about-”

“No!” he responded. “Don’t tell anyone anything about me…”

Sakura was coming up to a stop sign. If she turned left they’d go to the hotel but if she turned right… _I could take him to my house and save him a night of roach motel horror. I need to decide now. Maybe I can help._

Sakura pulled out her phone and called her mom at the stop sign. The roads were completely empty. Her mom answered and Sakura was quick in convincing her.

“Hey, mom! Gaara’s dad went out of town but forgot to leave him the key to the house. Now he has nowhere to sleep tonight. Is it okay if he uses the spare bedroom? Really?! Cool, see you in a few.”

Gaara stared at her dumbfounded, “You lied through your teeth.”

“Yeah.”

Gaara glared. “Why? I told you I don’t need your help…”

Sakura smirked, “I’m not letting you stay in some ratty, roach infested, dirt hole. Save your money. Have dinner with us. Sleep without getting the pulp beaten out of you. Besides, I’m driving and I decide where the destination is. Suck it up, vampire.”

 **This is borderline kidnapping.** Gaara crossed his arms and glared out of the window as they turned right. Part of him was mad at her but the other was glad he wouldn’t have to waste his money on a shitty hotel. **I hate how pushy she is.** His stomach grumbled. **That’s right, I haven’t eaten in two days…** The thought of a meal made Gaara feel a little better but he didn’t let his face show it.

Sakura felt triumphant. _At least his foster dad won’t be beating him up if he’s kicked out. I guess I shouldn’t be so glad about him getting tossed out but now he can stay with me. I mean! No! I meant with my family!_ The silence that engulfed them was thick. Neither felt like speaking and they arrived at the house in record time.

Sakura expected that Gaara might refuse to remove himself from the vehicle but he got out and rummaged through the bags in back of the truck. She watched as he removed a change of clothes and put them in his backpack. He jumped from the truck and waited for her to lead the way.  _Alright, well, I guess after cooling off he’s fine._

They made it through the door and their nostrils were assaulted with the scent of lasagna. Really tasty, not-cafeteria-quality lasagna. Gaara was salivating almost instantly. **That smells so good…**

“Welcome home Sakura. Hello to you too Gaara,” Sakura’s mother said cheerfully. He could see where Sakura got it from.

Gaara nodded a hello and Sakura noticed the glare he was wearing was immediately gone. _He’s not so bad if he isn’t glaring all the time. He seems to behave around my parents._

“I made lasagna. Have you eaten Gaara?” she asked.

He shook his head. **Not in two days…**

“Then you must join us. Go wash your hands, the both of you, and meet me at the table,” Mrs. Haruno smiled as she pulled the lasagna from the oven. Gaara stared at the steam as it billowed from the tasty Italian dish. **It looks amazing…** Sakura tapped his shoulder and signaled him to follow.

They ran the water in the sink and lathered their hands with soap. Sakura was drying by the time he rinsed his hands off.

“Your parents are nice. I’m envious…” he said. She looked at him with sympathy. _It’s not fair that he didn’t have parents growing up._

“I’m sorry,” she replied.

“Why? Because I don’t have any parents?” he asked. He shook his head. “Don’t be. I got over feeling sorry for myself a long time ago.”

***

Dinner was amazing. They ate at the table together in the dining room, which was strange to Gaara. **I’m used to taking my food to my room and eating alone**. He ate in silence as they talked amongst themselves about work, family friends, and school. After eating a salad and a good sized piece of lasagna Gaara found that he was still hungry **. I’m not sure I should ask for more though.** In his foster dad’s house, he only got what was given to him. Nothing more; it was selfish to ask for more. Not to mention dangerous. But they weren’t like that, surely.

“Are you done, Gaara?” asked Sakura’s dad. Gaara’s plate was as clean as it was going to get without him licking it. And he desperately wanted to.

“Uh, yes,” Gaara responded. “It was delicious…”

“Thank you Gaara. You can get more if you’d like,” Sakura’s mom insisted. “There’s plenty still left. Help yourself to more.”

Sakura saw Gaara’s face get red and immediately thought he might be angry. She then realized that he wasn’t mad but embarrassed. _He looks ashamed of asking for more. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this._

Gaara nodded his head and went to the kitchen to get more. Sakura finished her plate and followed him. She wanted more too but besides that she wanted to ask Gaara if he was okay. His face was still bright red from shame.

“You okay?” she asked as she put another slice of lasagna on her plate and some salad. He nodded but didn’t say anything. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, drop it,” he tried to glare and was failing.

“Don’t start that with me,” she hissed quietly so her parents wouldn’t overhear. “What’s your problem?”

He finally gave up trying to deter her questions.

“I’m not used to this…being treated like…a person,” he admitted and Sakura bit back her words. She regretted calling him out.

They went back to the table with their food and continued dinner as if the conversation never happened. Sakura would steal glances over at Gaara to make sure he was okay. He seemed fine after their talk and ate in silence.

After dinner Mrs. Haruno was making her way to pick up the plates. Gaara got up and brought some of the dirty dishes to the sink. He thought maybe he could do the dishes for them since they fed him. **I’m used to doing all the cleaning at the house anyway.**

“No, no, no, Gaara. Sakura and I will handle these,” Sakura’s mother insisted. “It’s getting late. Why don’t you go upstairs and take a shower? I’ll have my husband send up fresh towels.”

Gaara, admitting defeat and accepting his role as invited guest, went up the stairs and headed to the bathroom **. I need a shower anyway**. He opened two doors before finding the one leading to the bathroom. It was clean and very white, with the exception of a blue floor mat. He started the water and closed the bathroom door. He took off his piercings and placed them on the counter as the steam began to fill the bathroom.

 **I never got a meal that filling at his house. And rarely did I get to shower before he did. The bastard always took all the hot water**. Gaara thought about Sakura’s smiling parents. **They were nicer to me in a single night that he has been in the 5 years since I moved …**

“You’re so lucky Sakura…” he sighed as he pulled off his clothes, his bruises reflected in the mirror along with his many scars. 

Gaara stepped into the shower and relished the hot water on his body. The stream of water hit his face and opened the cut but the warmth from the shower relieved any pain there would have been. Steam filled the bathroom quickly as the water hosed him down.  He scanned the tub for shampoo, found a bottle, and inspected it before opening it. 

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” he said as he picked it up. The label listed the scent as strawberry lemonade. The scent he vividly remembered from her towel earlier. Gaara opened the top and smelled it. **This is what her hair smells like…** It excited him and he wasn't sure why.

 

 


	5. A Bite to Eat

Chapter 5: A bite to eat

 

“Sakura do me a favor and take these towels up to Gaara,” said Mr. Haruno.

“Uh, okay, why can’t you do it?” she obeyed as she took the towels.

Her dad grabbed his chin. “I got the distinct feeling that we embarrassed your friend at dinner…”

_You’d be right about that. What makes you think that I’m any less embarrassing to him?_

“Yeah, okay. No big deal. I’ll take them…” she thought nothing of the act in bringing the towels until her mother said this:

“Don’t go peeking in on that handsome naked guy now,” her mother joked.

Sakura was flabbergasted. Her tongue was stuck in her throat. _I can’t believe she said that to me! Like I’m some kind of pervert. And who said he was handsome?!_

“What the heck MOM?! I would never do that!” Sakura was red with fury and embarrassment. She ran up the stairs with the towels clutched to her chest, all the while her parents were laughing at their joke.

She didn’t think it was all that funny. The thought of peeking in on Gaara scared her. If he caught her peeping then she didn’t know what Gaara would do. Sakura smacked herself _. If I get caught? I can’t believe I was actually considering it after my mom mentioned it._ She approached the door and could hear the water still running. _Quite a long shower_.

Now that Sakura thought about it, she’d never seen a naked guy before. She knew what one looked like from Sex Education and she’d seen guys in their swim suits but other than that…Could she manage to peek without him knowing? She shook her head vehemently. _What kind of person does that? A pervert, that’s who! As tempting as it is…_

Knock Knock!

Gaara listened intently for the person on the other side through the running water.

“Gaara I brought some towels…I’m just going to leave them here at the door okay?” Sakura called through the door.

Gaara looked at the shower curtain. It was opaque. No one would be able to see through it. He wouldn’t care anyway if she did.

“Go ahead and bring it in. I didn’t lock the door…” he said.

Sakura hesitated. _There’s a naked guy on the other side of this door._ Her heart thumped. _Very naked_. She considered going in. _He did say to come in. NO! I shouldn’t_ …Sakura fumbled with her pocket to find a quarter to flip. _Heads I go in Tails I don’t…_

“What the hell are you doing? Are you going to come in or not?” Gaara called.

“Fine! Fine! I’m coming! Just stay behind the curtain, alright?”

Sakura opened the door and the room was humid. _Think he’s got it warm enough in here?_ The shower water suddenly stopped with a squeak. _OH GOD_ …Sakura heard the curtain being pulled aside and involuntarily she shut her eyes and extended the towels toward the sound. _He’s naked…He’s naked. Don’t look. Don’t look._

“What’s your damage? You act like you’ve never seen a naked guy before…” he said as he grabbed a towel from her and wrapped it around his waist. He grabbed the other and began toweling off his head as he stepped out.

“That’s cause I haven’t…you… you pincushion!” she exclaimed still covering her eyes. **Really? Never?** Gaara felt a little honored except for the pincushion comment. **No wonder she got pissed when Kin practically called her a slut.** **She’s such a prude.**

“Says the kettle to the pot,” he shot back. “I’m covered you can open your eyes.”

She hesitated but opened them. He was finishing toweling off his head. He rested the towel on his shoulders and looked at her, perturbed. **What a drama queen. All this over my body. It’s nothing special.**

He was thin, she realized, as if he never ate. _His frame is so small_. Sakura noticed that there weren’t any piercings on his chest. In fact none of his piercings were in. He looked…normal. His skin was pale but she wasn’t that surprised by this. _He is a Goth kid after all. Sunlight does not a Goth make._

Sakura took a sharp wincing breath when she noticed that he had many, many scars. Most were completely healed but the most definitive of them all were the lines on his back. _My god what happened to him?_ The scars stood out, as raised bits on his ivory skin. There were two big bruises on his torso that looked recent.

Her eyes scanned his body making a mental inventory. At first it didn’t bother Gaara but the longer her piercing green eyes stared the more he felt like his body was on fire.

“Would you stop staring? It’s annoying…” he growled finally. A glance was fine but this. Gaara wasn’t sure why but he was feeling a little uncomfortable with her gawking. **I’m not a side show attraction.**

“Sorry, it’s just…” Sakura paused to find the word. “…horrible what he did you your body.” She was mortified at what must have taken place to cause such vicious looking wounds.

He rolled his eyes. “Most of these ‘scars’ are from his girlfriend. He’d hold me still while she hit me or stab me with various objects. A broom. Broken bottles. Sometimes tree branches-”

“STOP IT!” she yelled and Gaara jumped a little.

 _I can’t take this. He acts so nonchalant about it!_ Fighting in school was one thing but continuous deliberate beatings?The image of anyone being constantly hit, let alone someone she knew, was driving her crazy. Gaara being held down as some unknown, cruel-looking woman jabbed him with a broken beer bottle. His fingers being stomped on by a gigantic boot or the backhand that no doubt ripped his piercing. And small, quiet Gaara sitting there, saying nothing, because he believed he deserved it. Or that nothing could stop it.

 _How could they hurt him so much? It’s so cruel. He doesn’t seem fazed by this at all. It’s so sad…_ Sakura started to tear up and the water began to dribble down her face making plip noises as they hit the tile.

Gaara stared, confused.  **Is she…crying? What on earth is she crying for?**

“Would you cut that out?” he said, disturbed by her display of emotion. “Why are you crying like that?”

“Sorry…” she whispered. “It had to hurt so much …”

Gaara looked away because he couldn’t watch her cry **.** It made him uncomfortable **. How can she cry over someone else’s pain? Not even present pain, this happened years ago. I don’t feel the pain from these injuries anymore.**

“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” Gaara whispered. **Nothing hurts anymore. Nothing can hurt me anymore**. “So please stop crying, would you?”

She wiped her face. _He’s really strong; to be able to visit those memories and not be affected by them. I can’t help but cry when I think of how much pain it must have caused him. He thinks I’m an idiot for being sad about it…but I think he’s an idiot for not caring._

“Follow me, I’ll show you the guestroom…” Sakura gestured in the direction she was heading. She tried to hide the sadness in her voice. _I can’t imagine being so used to pain like he is._

 He followed behind her holding the towel in place. **She’s such a worry wart. She shouldn’t bother worrying over me.** The part of him that was embarrassed at dinner was getting agitated again and his face was turning red. All this attention was getting to him **. But why?** Then a thought occurred to him. **Do I like the attention? Or is it I like her attention?**

“This is it,” she said as she turned on the light. It was pretty bare but there was a twin sized bed with red covers. There was a vanity mirror and a small dresser next to the bed.  The wallpaper was a dull floral pattern of daisies and lilac. His bag was already on the bed, courtesy of one of her parents.

He nodded and opened his bag. Gaara pulled some clothes out of it and threw them on the bed. He was about to reach for the pants when he stopped and turned towards her.

“Are you going or are you staying to watch me change?” he joked with a smirk.

Sakura’s face matched her hair. “Going!”

She quickly left, closing the door, and went into her room right next to his. He managed a chuckle as he heard her door close. **She’s so innocent it’s ridiculous. What would I have done if she’d said she was staying? It wouldn’t say much about me but it would speak volumes of her.**

Sakura couldn’t get her face to return to its natural shade _. I already saw (most of) his body. It really shouldn’t have embarrassed me that much. I should have just called him a pervert and stomped off. Like I normally would do. But when he looked at me… I need to shower…I need a cold shower now…_ Sakura ran to the bathroom without stopping in front of Gaara’s door. She came to a halt in the bathroom when she nearly slipped on the floor.

She turned on the water and didn’t care that it was freezing cold before she stripped and jumped in.

“COLD!!” She yelped.

She kept it freezing but only because she wanted to freeze the idea that she actually did want to watch Gaara change out of her mind.

***

Gaara listened as the shower got going. He heard her exclaim that the water was cold and he smirked. His smirk all of a sudden went away. **Why would she take a cold shower on purpose? Unless…** His train of thought led him to only one conclusion which he couldn’t believe was true.

“She wanted to see my…” he said looking down, as if it were an everyday observation. **I didn’t think she was interested. I was just kidding. She’s in there taking a cold shower because of me**. **If she was thinking of me that way…then …** Gaara smirked. **I have no shame**. **Let’s see how interested she is.**

***

Sakura turned off the shower finally. _I needed that_. Water dripped from her pink hair to the tile floor. A cold shower was just what the doctor ordered. She brought herself to the mirror and stared at her face. It wasn’t flushed anymore. _Thank goodness_.

“Alright Sakura…” she mumbled to herself. “So he’s kinda attractive…in a thin, bad boy, emo-rock-star kind of way…”

 _The sooner I can accept that he’s sort of hot, the sooner I can get over the fact that I wanted to watch him drop that towel. His skin looked smooth. His hair looked soft_. Sakura pinched herself. _This is hormones at work. That’s what it is. My body says: DO IT! My brain says: DON’T YOU DARE!_

 _We aren’t exactly compatible. That’s what my_ brain says.  
_Who says you have to be compatible to be attracted to someone? That’s what my heart says._  
 _All men and women are compatible in the most important way. That’s what my body says._

“Ugh, I wanted to see that towel drop. Damn me to hell,” she said to no one.

 _He hasn’t shown any interest in me_. Sakura scoffed. _He hasn’t shown interest in anything beyond my piercing. Though he does stare at me for prolonged periods of time. Does that mean anything?_ _Even if it did, how would I know? I’ve never been with anyone before. I’ve never dated._

It was then she noticed that he’d left all of his earrings on the counter in the bathroom. Sakura picked them up and eyed them curiously. None of them were the same ones in his ‘first’ picture. That was eons ago for him. They were all silver or sterling steel, so nothing gold. No gemstones.

“I wonder why I never considered getting my ears pierced? It has to be less painful than this spontaneous belly piercing.”

She held his little cross earring up to her ear. It wouldn’t look bad.

“This cross is pretty cool…”

There was a knock.

“What?” Sakura spat as she put the earring back down and picked up another. “This silver rose is kinda pretty.”

“I left my earrings in there…” Gaara called from the other side. Sakura panicked and started looking around for a towel. There wasn’t one. _I didn’t grab one when I came in. I was too preoccupied with that cold shower to think of it._

“Hold on a second!” Sakura ran back into the tub and hid behind the curtain. “Okay, come in…”

She shook nervously. She was cold and the guy she was thinking about naked a few moments ago was coming in. He opened the door and went straight to the counter. He was still in his towel and had not yet changed.

Gaara picked up his piercings and put them back in all the while Sakura was standing behind the curtain watching him. He was taking his time. And she was taking her time staring at the dip in his back and how it ended just above his buttocks.

“Would you do me a favor, Gaara?” she asked after waking herself from her reverie. Her face was all that was visible from behind the curtain but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t looking at her.

“What? You want the ‘bad boy emo-rock-star’ to lose his towel?” he asked. “I heard you through the door…”

Sakura’s face exploded into crimson. _He was listening through the door?! What a stalker! But what does that say about me?_

“I need a towel!” she exclaimed.  “Perv!”

**She’s calling me a perv? She’s the one thinking about me towel-less.**

“What, you don’t have one?” he asked, raising what would have been an eyebrow. **She’s completely naked back there**. **I don’t really know what her body looks like, except her stomach. I did come in to test her.**

He took the towel that was around his neck and handed it to her. It was small but she managed to wrap it around her body. The cloth barely covered her enough. He waited for her to come out but she didn’t.

“Get out! I’m not coming out of here until you leave…I’m not thrilled about parading my naked body around like you!”

He scoffed at her modesty and Sakura’s heart thumped. _He’s not laughing with you! He’s laughing at you! It’s not cute, it’s mean! Get offended not enamored!_ Gaara saw her face getting red.

 **She’s thinking about it**. **She’s so transparent**. He walked closer to the shower and Sakura backed up a little, still hiding behind the curtain.

“You’d like to see me with nothing on, wouldn’t you?” he asked her. Her face maintained its red hue but now her eyes were wide with surprise. “You put up this tough prep girl act but you’re into guys like me. Angsty, dark, and mysterious. I could take it off you know. And it wouldn’t bother me one bit…”

_Is he serious? I think he’s picking on me again. He’s got to be bluffing._

“Liar, you wouldn’t,” she tried to hide her interest.

“Try me. Just know that I’d expect something in return…You never get something for nothing. One of the only sensible things my foster dad taught me.”

Sakura raised a brow, “like what?”

Gaara was surprised that she didn’t back down after he mentioned a price. He expected her to decline.  **She really does want to see me.** Gaara felt himself get a bit excited, something he hadn’t felt in a while. Sakura was a little more visible now and he could see she was having trouble containing her body in that tiny towel he handed her. **Now that I can see it, her body has fantastic proportions. I only wish mine matched hers.** There were little water drops sprinkled about her hair and face. They were spread on her shoulders and chest too. Some were already starting to dry while others danced their way down into the towel and were quickly absorbed.

“What do you want, Sakura?” he asked her firmly.

 _I will not ask Gaara to get naked. I feel like the trade off for that would be too steep and I wouldn’t be willing to pay it._ She looked up and down his body and bit her lip.

“Do I have to pay before or after?” she asked hesitantly.

“You’re stalling…” he deadpanned. “There’s no commitment here. What happens here, stays here.”

Sakura wanted to know if this slight attraction she’d been feeling for him was real. _Maybe it’s just a little crush._ He said he’d be willing to do something with her for a price and it wouldn’t have to leave the room. _What’s something small I could ask for? That way I wouldn’t have to pay too much._

“Don’t laugh at me but…I’ve…never kissed…before…” Sakura’s voice cracked as she climbed out of the shower.

Gaara snorted but stood his ground. **A kiss? That’s all? What are we, eight?** He had to admit he was hoping for something more stimulating than that. Perhaps even some light groping. Sakura looked down at his cold eyes. She stood firm suddenly and pressed her lips against his without much warning.

He noticed that it was a very light kiss and came to the conclusion that she wasn’t lying about having no experience. She had no clue what she was doing. Gaara gripped her shoulders tight so that she couldn’t back away. _What’s he doing?!_ He slipped his tongue into her mouth and she tried to pull away reflexively but was held firmly in place. His tongue massaged the inside of her warm, wet mouth and at first it was disturbing. But then her tongue joined in. Right when she stopped resisting, about the time she let out a moan, he pulled away and let her go, leaving her wanting more.

“That’s how you kiss,” he told her. He tried being smug about it but he looked at the door as if to make a run for it. Kissing her was strange. It was different than kissing other girls. She was enjoying it, which was expected, but so did Gaara. He wasn’t really expecting that. It felt foreign and that made Gaara uncomfortable. He wanted nothing more than to leave the room and quickly. 

Sakura blinked in awe. _His tongue was in my mouth…It felt really…really…good. I kissed a Goth and I liked it._

“I’m going to bed,” Gaara huffed.

“Wait,” she said, “I thought I had to pay a price…”

“You wouldn’t sit still long enough for me to collect it…” he dared. “You’re too much of a wimp…”

Sakura’s eyes glowed _. What was he planning to do?_ Part of her wanted to leave it at that but the defiant part that enjoyed challenges wanted to know more. _Now that I know I enjoyed that kiss I wouldn’t mind another…he tasted like blood which should have been creepy but I liked it._

“I won’t move,” she smirked. “I can take it…”

Gaara didn’t feel like trying to convince her otherwise. The sooner he took his payment the sooner he could leave this uncomfortable night behind him. Immediately, Gaara pinned her to the bathroom door. **She literally asked for it.** Sakura was regretting her decision only slightly. It thrilled her, his forceful nature. _What’s he going to do?_

Gaara lowered his head to her neck and licked the water drops off one by one. Painstakingly slow. The tongue that was in her mouth moments ago was now on her cold skin. He moved across her collar bone and lapped up the water there too. Slick and hot. _Oh my god, his tongue is all over me…_ Then his lips locked down on a dip in the other shoulder blade and suckled up the water. She tasted better than he ever thought she would. Gaara could honestly say he was enjoying himself **.** Her gut was doing flip-flops and knees started to buckle but he held her firmly in place. He sucked a water drop from her ear lobe and Sakura suppressed a gasp as he tongued her ear.

“Surprising,” he mumbled. “Not even a shudder…maybe you're tougher than I thought…”

Sakura’s eyes fluttered at his deep voice in her ear for a second before they got bold again.

“I can handle anything!” she smirked. “If this is payment for a kiss then Pfft! This is nothing.”

He stared defiantly back. **Nothing, huh? I’ll show you nothing**. His hand snaked up the back of her neck and entwined itself in damp pink hair. He tugged suddenly and exposed her neck even more. Sakura got the image of a vampire biting his prey. _I am prey._

His face was close to her neck and he breathed on it lightly. He saw her swallow in nervousness. Gaara wanted to bite down. Hard. Hard enough to hurt. **She might scream. If that happens I’ll be in a whole new world of hurt. Prison kind of hurt.** Sakura sensed his hesitation.

“What are you waiting for?” she challenged him. “Afraid?”

He glared and clamped down on the side of her neck. Not as hard as he would have liked but hard enough to elicit Sakura to cry out weakly. His bite morphed into sucking hard on her pulse and her pain from the bite changed to pleasure from his tongue. She eeked out a small whimper and shook from the sensation. She tried to reach out and managed to grab his shoulder, holding tightly as if unwilling to let go. Her fingers were cold and her nails were starting to dig into his skin. It shocked Gaara out of his bite and he pulled back suddenly. No one ever clung to him, he’d never let them. Sharp claws digging into him felt all too familiar in a bad way and he didn’t want to relive the painful memory.

Sakura was stunned from the bite/kiss and couldn’t think of words to accurately describe it. _I can’t believe this. I kissed the most Goth kid in school in my bathroom with only towels to separate us_. _And it felt great._ Gaara just huffed and left the bathroom in a hurry to his room when she just stood there dazed. **I need to be alone.**

 _He’s so dominating…_ She recalled him pulling her hair and the other hand pressing her shoulder hard against the door. _I never would have guessed._ _Before that he held me tightly in place. He’s been abused all his life; I thought he’d be kind of…dunno, subservient. I could taste the blood from his lip, a coppery and bitter kiss. It was kind of frightening but…it suits him somehow._ Gaara’s door closed and Sakura jumped. _Oh, he left. I didn’t even notice_. Sakura, her face flushed, went quickly to her room and closed the door trying very hard to pretend that nothing happened.

She carefully dried her belly button with a paper towel and set her alarm for the morning. _That’s it then, apparently he no longer wants to talk. Or do anything else. He just ran off without a word… Should I just pretend it never happened? Like he said before. It won’t leave the bathroom._

***

It was about midnight and Gaara couldn’t sleep. The interaction with Sakura earlier that night was plaguing his mind and keeping him restless. **For such a strong body she was very submissive**. Even if she was a little sassy with the way she talked to him, Sakura was still docile, maybe even obedient. She gave up her control and let him move her to his desires.

Gaara liked submissive girls. It might have had something to do with him being on the receiving end of violence all the time. He liked having control whenever he could find it. And right now Gaara was finding that controlling Sakura wasn’t hard, in fact she made it easy **. And she seemed to like it.**

He couldn’t figure out why he stopped though. Gaara was enjoying controlling her…He should have kept going. But… **it was different with her.** He thought she would resist and fight back. The way he always did. He thought she’d hate it.  Instead she liked it. It threw him off and now he couldn’t sleep because of it. **Damn her for being weird…**

The red head sprung from his bed and walked quietly to his door. He didn’t hear any noise in the house. So he opened his door and then quietly Sakura’s as well. Gaara was as silent as the grave when he stared at Sakura’s body lying there. She wasn’t lying about her new sleeping habits.

Sakura was wearing only a bra and boy shorts underwear. She was deep in sleep, Gaara could tell. Something about the way she was breathing or how at ease she seemed gave it away. It wouldn’t be hard to jump her now. Gaara had plenty of partners before and knew how to get a girl hot and bothered. **But she looks so innocent. Never been kissed until tonight. I was her first kiss.**

He stared at her a moment longer and then went back to his room feeling ashamed, for the first time in years. He felt like a violator, even worse than his foster dad. Gaara crawled back into his bed and sighed. **Just pretend it never happened. Act normal tomorrow and things will go back to the way they were before. What happens in her home stays there.**

***

Sakura woke up to a flashing and screaming alarm. 7:00am blinking angrily at her. _Get up._ Sakura was having trouble convincing herself that she needed to leave her bed. She leaned up wincing at the pain in her stomach _. It’s going to take months before I can wake in the morning without feeling like this._

She hit the alarm and it was silent. There was no sound coming from the room next door _. I wonder if Gaara is up yet…_ Sakura leaned from her door and knocked on his.

“Gaara you up?” she asked. No response. “It’s 7am. Time for school.”

She pushed the door open and it revealed an empty room. The bed was made and towel he took to bed folded neatly on the dresser. Gaara and his bag were mysteriously missing.

“Sakura! You awake?” Sakura’s mother called up the stairs.

“Yeah, is Gaara down there?” she asked.

“He’s eating at the table, hurry up or your eggs will get cold,” her father yelled.

Sakura was relieved that he hadn’t left yet. _I still want to talk to him about what happened last night_. _Normally a guy kisses a girl because he likes her but…she wasn’t sure if Gaara actually did. It seemed like he just wanted to mess with her._ She ran back to her bedroom and began tugging a brush trough her hair. After pulling her shoulder length pink hair up into a scrunchie Sakura screamed in abject horror.

“Oh My GOD!” 

 _My neck!_ She had almost expected to see a hickey but this was way worse. _It was a bite mark. God it looks like I was assaulted by a giant leech! Or a lamprey!_ The teeth marks were very visible and the tender skin was broken in places. _What a beast! He has no restraint!_ Sakura’s horror was raised even higher when she thought it might be impossible to hide. No manner of makeup would make that disappear.

“You alright Sakura?” Her mother sounded worried.

“NOTHING! Just a spider!!” Sakura lied.

Sakura’s mother reminded her to hurry up and get down there. She stomped over to her closet and began rummaging through it.

“I’m going to bite his damn head off!” she grumbled as she threw things out of her closet trying to find a shirt with a high neckline. She found a black turtleneck that she bought for drama club years ago and smiled when it still fit perfectly. _This will have to do._

***

Gaara nearly snorted orange juice out of his nose when he saw her come down stairs in a turtleneck and glaring daggers at him. He managed to hold in his amusement and hide the smirk on his face. **She’s pissed. And I know why…** He ate another bite of pancakes feigning ignorance.

 _Look at him! He’s acting like he did nothing wrong!_ Sakura fumed as she stabbed her bacon and shoved it in her mouth. She chewed noisily and stared off to the side. _I’ll admit that he was very smooth last night but his attitude about what’s funny and what’s not needs to be adjusted. This falls into the ‘not fucking funny’ category._

They hurried through their breakfast and Sakura hugged her parents goodbye as she went to her car.

“Come on, Gaara. We need to get going,” she nearly growled at him.

They got into the car and it started with almost no trouble this time. She waved to her parents and drove off. The car wasn’t silent for long.

“What the hell is this?!” she yelled while pulling down the collar of her shirt. Gaara spied the vicious bite mark. **Looks good on her** , he jokingly thought. He then shrugged as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“You said you could handle it…” he reminded her a minute later.

“It’s a fucking zombie bite!” she exclaimed, but she couldn’t help but grin _. I’ll start turning into a Goth kid before you know it. Getting piercings on my face and wearing insane amounts of eyeliner_. _Moaning the lyrics from death metal and emo rock like a creature of the night after brains._

“So? You asked for it,” he voiced his opinion. “Maybe next time you’ll think before you kiss.”

Sakura turned red. _That’s right. I started it, didn’t I? I egged him on and everything._ This revelation that Gaara was right and she was wrong didn’t make her feel any better. _He did it as payback…not because he liked me._

“Well, I won’t be making that mistake again…” Sakura grit her teeth.

 

 


	6. The Start of Something More

Chapter 6: The Start of Something More

 

They got out of the truck and started towards the building. They were late, even though Sakura wanted to be there early. _Maybe I’m overreacting. It’s not that strange that we might show up together. We are computer partners so the assumption would be that we’re talking about the project_.

 _I worry too much. I just need to calm down and act normal_. As soon as they were in the building Gaara walked off to join his table. Temari was still over there wearing her Goth clothing but she was certainly smiling more than before. No scowling or holier than thou smirk. Genuine smiling.

“Ew, what is with that hideous sweater, Sakura?” Ino flinched at it. “Maybe Gaara’s infecting your brain with the dark arts…”

Sakura laughed half heartedly. _Infecting me like a zombie…_ His bite was still fresh in her mind. Gaara had already taken a seat with his group and Sakura wondered what they were saying. Would he talk about her? Or last night?

***

“Where you been Gaara? Aren’t you usually here early?” Temari asked. She was the only one bold enough to ask Gaara direct questions and expect a response.

“I was kicked out. Kankuro picking you up today?” he asked and she nodded. “Call him and tell him he’s taking me too.”

Temari got out her phone immediately and began dialing, a hopeful smile on her face. After a quick chat it was settled and Kankuro would make some room on the couch until he could clean out a room for Gaara. It was then that Temari thought something smelled sweet at the table. No one ever bought breakfast so it wasn’t food. She tried to follow the source of the scent and realized it was coming from Gaara’s hair.

“You smell like candy,” Temari laughed.

“Shut up,” he growled. She did and didn’t say another word.

The other two in their group were talking about some new CD that came out. The dark and evil lyrics seemed to portray the everyday struggle of life in modern society. Usually it was interesting to hear about new music but today Gaara only listened half heartedly and started to draw in his sketchbook again.

Temari looked up and spotted Sakura a little ways away talking to Ino. She decided now was as good a time as any to go see them. There was still a minute before the bell so she jogged over. The two cheerleaders spotted her halfway and waved.

“Hey morning, you’re kind of late aren’t you?” Temari half smiled. “Kickass sweater. You just need a spiked collar and bracelets and you’ll be just like us…”

 Ino and Temari laughed while Sakura just kind of chuckled. Who knew that girls from different walks of life could get along so well?  Ino spotted someone from the basketball team and excused herself. A second later Sakura could see that she was trying desperately to talk to Sasuke. He didn’t seem interested in what she had to say. Sakura turned to Temari and sighed.

 “Maybe I should warn Ino about him…”

“Don’t bother. You don’t think she’d listen, do you?” Temari asked with a laugh.

Sakura smiled. “True. No, she’d just accuse me of trying to hog him to myself…”

There it was again. A familiar smell. Temari’s eyes widened in realization.

“Oh no…no way…” Temari put a hand to her mouth to hide her smile. “You smell sweet …”

Sakura turned and nodded her head. “Yeah. It’s my shampoo. Pretty distinct huh?”

Temari laughed so hard her stomach hurt. She was trying to say something but all Sakura could catch was ‘oh yeah’ and ‘it’s distinct alright’. Sakura didn’t get the joke but smiled awkwardly, not wanting to be left out of the laughter. _What a weirdo, sent into a tizzy over shampoo._

Sasuke and Ino joined them from across the cafeteria and the basketball star eyed her turtleneck with confusion. He said it looked retro but good on her. Sakura ignored the compliment. _What is so strange about a turtleneck? That’s a dumb question. Everyone knows you don’t wear a turtleneck by choice…_

The bell rang and everyone headed to class. Ino followed Sasuke but Temari held back with Sakura. The pink headed girl felt like Temari was watching her with that knowing look. When she finally looked at the blonde, Temari had a Cheshire cat grin. Sakura had to say something.

“What?!”

“Nothing…I was just thinking about your ‘distinct’ shampoo…I know someone else who uses it…” Temari hinted but Sakura was dense.

“Really?” Sakura honestly didn’t know.

Temari turned and pulled Sakura close. She whispered quietly in her ear, “Gaara.”

***

Sakura’s whole day was a basket of stress. _She knows! How long before others do too? I could strangle Gaara’s foster dad. It’s his fault after all. He kicked Gaara out. He didn’t have a place to stay_. Sakura swallowed, _but I did invite him_. Everything was falling to pieces.

Sakura kept touching her neck where the bite was. Massaging it gently with her fingers. _What does it matter? Who would really throw a fit about this? Ino? No, she would freak out but it’s not like she would stop being friends with me. The rest of the cheer squad wouldn’t mind would they? Why does high school have to be so fickle?! Everything based on the clique you aligned yourself with…_

“Not fair,” she muttered to herself.

“Why do you keep rubbing your neck?” a male voice asked behind her. She nearly leapt out of her skin. It was Naruto. Behind him were Sasuke and Kiba. _Then there’s Sasuke. What would he do if he found out? Would he even care?_

“I slept on it funny,” she stuttered. “So it’s killing me…”

Naruto stated, “Why not go to the nurse? She’d fix it…”

Sakura assured him that she would and they left. At least, everyone except Sasuke, who was not convinced. He approached her and the panic set in. She was backed against the locker and it seemed most everyone had gone to their class. _No one to save me…time to save myself._

“Let me see your neck Sakura, maybe I can fix it,” he smiled. “I know some therapy massages.”

“No, thanks,” she said. _I’m pushing my luck here._

“Let me see it,” he glared. This time he looked ready to pull the collar himself.

She told him no again and he pushed her. The pain radiated from her belly where he shoved her. He reached and pulled the collar down. Sakura responded by biting his hand as hard as she could. Sasuke scowled at her as he pulled his hand back.

“What a bitch,” he snarled. “Who gave it to you? That mark.”

“It’s none of your business!” Sakura hissed at him. “Next time I’ll bite your whole finger off. Let’s see you play basketball then!”

He smacked her; the sound resonated down the hall. Sakura could admit that it stung. She knew her cheek was turning red. Sasuke stood there and smiled pompously.

“Let’s see you cover that one up,” he sniggered. “See you later, Sakura.”

Sasuke sauntered away like he’d won and laid claim to her. Sakura waited until he was out of sight and smashed her fist against the locker.

“Why didn’t I just hit him?” she growled.

 _Because I don’t want to change schools again. Well, I did get a bite in. That has to count for something_. Sakura wanted to go to the nurse but her pride wouldn’t let her. So, she went to her last class without a word, her cheek swelling; her fingers and pride bruised.

***

No practice that day and Sakura couldn’t find Gaara. She ran into Temari and learned that Gaara was doing an art project after school. Sakura didn’t want to bother him with the Sasuke problem then. So they sat in the hallway and talked about music, movies, and food. Temari couldn’t stand looking at the red mark on her face a minute longer before she had to ask.

“Did…Gaara…hit you?” she asked.

Sakura gaped. “No! It was Sasu-” Sakura clamped her mouth shut but she’d already said too much.

“What? Why on earth did he hit you?” Temari looked angry.

  _This is a sight, Temari coming to my defense_. _A week ago you couldn’t get her to look at me and now we walk the halls like we’ve known each other for years._ Sakura looked down the hallway finding it empty. No one was coming. The cheerleader hooked a finger into her shirt and pulled it down before Temari’s eyes.

“Oh my,” Temari gasped. “I see, and _this one_ came from Gaara didn’t it?”

Sakura nodded her head. “Don’t tell okay? Sasuke’s already angry enough that I denied him that night at the game. He’s even madder that I have this and he isn’t the cause of it…I think that’s why he hit me…I wouldn’t tell him it was Gaara…”

They were quiet. Temari felt bad for Sakura but couldn’t stop smiling at the evidence of Gaara’s intimacy with her.

“Stop looking at me like that. Gaara just did it as a prank,” she insisted.

“Mmm-hmm,” nodded Temari, in mock belief. “Sure he did…And what Sasuke did was just a love tap, right?”

Sakura suddenly got this paranoid look in her eyes. She didn’t want Gaara to know about Sasuke. Or Sasuke to know about Gaara. He might pick a fight with him and Sasuke would grind him into the pavement. If Sasuke wasn’t afraid to hit a girl he’d feel no remorse for beating a guy down. No.  He couldn’t be told. She would deal with it in her own time.

“I’ll tell him myself…so…don’t tell Gaara, okay?” Sakura begged.

“Don’t tell me what?” Gaara’s voice resounded behind her. Sakura turned quickly and saw him carrying a canvas. He eyed the red mark on her cheek with a questioning glance.

Temari excused herself to give them some privacy and quickly scurried around the corner. Sakura couldn’t believe that Temari would abandon her like this. _Traitor! You threw me to the wolves!_

“Get in a fight?” he asked.

“Yeah, with a locker, but I won…” she joked and changed the subject. “What’re you painting?”

Gaara turned the canvas and showed her. There wasn’t any paint on it yet, only a faint outline of what it would entail. There was a very basic sketch of a woman’s body that seemed to be reaching out to the viewer with one hand. The other arm had yet to be drawn. He had two more blank canvases behind that one.

“It’s part of a series. I sell them to pay for expenses,” he said.

“What a great idea. I don’t have any artistic skill. You’re pretty lucky,” she said.

“Yeah, sure,” he looked away, not used to the compliment. “See you around. Temari, let’s go.”

He left with his sister and Sakura stood there in silence. _I was going to but I just couldn’t. It’s my problem and I’ll handle myself. I don’t want to be a burden to anyone._ When Sakura really thought about it, she wasn’t sure Gaara would care anyway.

***

“So,” Temari started as the car made its way down the street. “She tell you about her face?”

“She got into a fight with locker,” he said quietly and climbed into the back seat. “What a klutz.”

Temari exclaimed, “What?! Is that what she said?”

Gaara nodded but noticed that Temari seemed put out as she followed him in. Kankuro didn’t concern himself with high school gossip. He had better things to do, like drop them off at the apartment and get to his second job.

“You’d think she’d tell you about it. Since it is your fault,” she pointed at him. He just tsked. **How could it be my fault? I didn’t hit her…**

He found that he did want to know though. “Why?”

“Well that ass wipe basketball captain whapped her one when she refused to tell him who gave her that rather obscene looking bite on her neck…”

Gaara’s face blanched. **She got hit, because of me?** He wasn’t even concerned that his sister knew about the bite. He wasn’t ashamed of being intimate with someone and his family knowing. But it had been a long time since Gaara ever felt guilty for something. **I told her to avoid him. Why didn’t she listen to me? Why didn’t she tell me about Sasuke?**

“Especially after that fiasco at the game last week. When he tried to push her into having sex with him and she refused. He’s got it in for her now.”

**He’ll keep trying too. And if she keeps saying no then he’ll keep attacking her. He’ll corner her when she’s alone because he doesn’t have the gall to do it with people around. Like now. That snake!**

“Turn around,” he growled.

“What?” said Kankuro.

“Turn around now!” he snarled.

Kankuro pulled a U-turn at an intersection and began driving back to the school. Hopefully he could get there before Sasuke could trap her again. **If I know Sasuke he won’t give her a chance to think.**

***

Sakura wandered into the art classroom to peek around. _This is totally sneaky and not cool but I want to see some of Gaara’s art._ There was a teacher in there and he looked up when she closed the door.

“Can I help you? Oh, Miss Haruno!” he smiled when he recognized her. “There’s a game on Friday, you going to cheer this time?”

She smiled. “Maybe, if I’m feeling better. I wanted to ask where Gaara does his art.”

“Gaara…Sabaku? Let’s see, he sits here near the window…some of his work is here…” he pointed over in the area.

“Thanks.”

Sakura went over and looked at a few of the pictures. Most of them were pretty dark. _What did I expect? Kittens and butterflies? Well…maybe a little on the kittens._ There was an anatomical heart being crushed by thorns. A man bleeding to death in a cage that could barely hold him. The last one she saw was a woman with feathered wings ripping through her back, blood splayed everywhere.

“That’s one of his newest ones…He only uses the colors black, white, and red. It seems to be his genre, this ‘arte de macabre’. What do you think?” he asked.

“It suits him,” she laughed. There was a paper slipped in the stack. “What’s this one?”

It was a sheet of white paper sketched in charcoal. Both Sakura and the art teacher gaped. It was a drawing of a woman from the neck to her waist and Sakura immediately recognized it as her own. It wasn’t in color but if it were the short locks that reached her shoulders would be carnation pink. The bite mark on the neck was in color; a dark red. It only showed the woman from the side and from her puckered lips down. All the way down to her waist. If it’d shown her face there would be no doubt as to who the model was. The blood trail from the bite formed a heart.

“This is different…” the art teacher blinked. “This isn’t his normal stuff…”

“He must have done this from memory,” she uttered under her breath. It was very detailed. _But I wasn’t naked! I wore a towel! He couldn’t possibly have x-ray vision…could he?_

“What’s that?” he asked, not sure he caught her sentence.

“Nothing. It’s very good…”she put it back in its proper place.

Sakura said thanks and asked that he didn’t tell Gaara that she was ogling his art. He understood, apparently he was like that in high school too. Always checking up on his rival’s work. _What an eccentric guy but I guess that could be determined from his weird hair style._ She snorted when she realized how much he looked like Lee. Physically and socially.

She walked out the door and a dark brooding face greeted her; her stomach sank like a brick was dropped into it. It was Sasuke. He was leaning against the wall right across the door. Sakura swallowed when she realized she was alone. _Maybe I should go back into the classroom…_

“Feel like telling me now?” he asked.

“Why is it you only talk to me when there’s no one around?” she sassed. _Coward_ **.**

“Who is it Sakura? Who are you seeing when you could be with me?” Sasuke grinned.

“I’m not seeing anyone. Just leave me alone, I don’t belong to you.”

There was an intense silence _. I denied him again_. Sakura was prepared for the oncoming assault but this time she was ready to hit back. She had her keys ready in her left hand. _I’ll scratch his damn eyes out_.

He chuckled as he started forward. “You’re only making this harder on yourself. I always get what I want…”

“So I’ve heard…” she glared. He came closer and she got into a defensive stance. “I’ll fight you Sasuke. Just stay away.”

He smiled devilishly and Sakura felt she must have said something he found funny.

“That’s fine with me…I like them feisty…” he insinuated.

Sakura was disgusted with him. _I can’t believe I thought this was attractive. He was pretending to be a great guy. Or maybe he wasn’t and I was just too stupid to notice. I mistook arrogance for confidence._ Before he only smacked her but now his fist was closed tight. _Is he…going to punch me?_

“What are you doing?” Gaara’s voice resounded across the hall. He looked out of breath. He walked slowly across the hallway carrying his bag over one shoulder. Sasuke was backing up a little and putting his hand in his pocket.

“None of your business, graveyard trash.”

Sakura looked back and forth quickly to the approaching Gaara and to Sasuke. _Is there going to be a fight? I hope not._

“Gaara, what are you doing here?”

“I forgot one of my art pieces…” he glared at Sasuke. “Can’t finish my portraits without it…”

Sasuke turned tail and began to walk away. _He really can’t take someone on unless they’re alone and defenseless_. She was really glad Gaara showed up **. It seems I made it just in time.** Sasuke disappeared down the stairs and Sakura didn’t say a word until his footsteps faded away.

“Thanks Gaara,” she sighed, unclenching her keys. _That could have been really bad…_

“Don’t bother thanking me. Come on, I’ll walk with you to your truck.”

“I thought you needed an art piece for your portraits,” she argued as he began walking to the stairs.

He shook his head. “I can’t have you getting bruises on your face or I’ll have to find someone else to paint…”

 **Did I really just admit to that?** He brought a hand to his forehead as if he had a headache. **I’m going to have one later. I’ll just have to make her pay for this embarrassment. What’s suitable?** Sakura blushed remembering the sketch in the art room. _He’s admitting to drawing me._

“You drew me?” she asked innocently. “But I’m not that good looking.”

“No, but you’re a satisfactory model,” he tried to be objective. Sakura looked slightly offended that he agreed with her statement about her not being pretty.

They walked to her truck and found Sasuke was nowhere in sight. Sakura didn’t see his car either _. He must have left._ Sakura let out a huge breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. _Gaara rescued me. Well not really. I could’ve taken Sasuke._

“You saved me, Gaara,” Sakura smiled at him. _He knew that Sasuke was gunning for me. He’s a knight in silver piercings. He just doesn’t know it._

Gaara turned to find her smiling genuinely at him. He wasn’t ready for it and he looked nervously to the sides.

“What are you smiling about, freak?” he scowled and tried his best to look annoyed. It wasn’t working on her.

“You came back to help me out, it’s very chivalrous,” Sakura told him. “How can I pay you back?”

Gaara thought about it a minute longer than he wanted to. Like some making out in the bed of her truck or some heavy groping in the Janitor’s closet. **I do like the idea of payment** _._ He thought about the bite mark that caused all this trouble. Wouldn't want to do something to make it worse...

“How’s your neck?” he asked. Sakura lowered her collar to show him again.

“There’s a bruise showing now, but it doesn’t hurt,” she told him.

It was still similar to the one he drew in class. **I’d like to make an identical one on the other side.** He was beginning to think that the bite might not scar **. I’d like to draw it again before it disappears.**

“Would you model for me? As payment for my rescuing…” Gaara asked staring at the bite.

“What? But you said I wasn’t pretty…”

“No, ‘you’ said you weren’t pretty,” he elaborated. “Don’t say anything you don’t mean.”

Sakura considered it. _I could get to know Gaara better. How hard can it be to model for a painting? Just sit still for an hour or so. That sounds cool to me._

“Okay, why not?” Sakura grinned.

“See you on Saturday…Until then…keep close to your friends, and don’t go anywhere alone.”

 


	7. A Sketchy Rendezvous

Chapter 7: A Sketchy Rendezvous

The game went well. Konoha High won again. Sakura told Ino about her piercing and like Sakura expected the blonde wigged out. All through the week Sakura made sure to stay near Ino or near Temari. Sasuke never came near but she always saw him across the cafeteria and he gave her the eye at the game. It gave Sakura this feeling of an ambush predator waiting patiently for his opportunity.

Despite his constant presence that was no doubt intended to frighten her, Sakura found her mind on the weekend. She was excited to be modeling. It wasn’t professional modeling obviously but to think she could be immortalized in art; it was thrilling. She nearly jumped out of her skin in excitement when her phone rang on Saturday morning. It was the shortest conversation she’d ever had on the phone:

_“The park on South Spencer Street at 11am. Three changes of clothes and any makeup you own. Grab a book to read. See you there.”_

That was all and he hung up. Sakura checked the address again. _This is right_. It was a park she used to go to all the time in grade school. There were lots of grassy spaces. _How will I find him? This place is huge._ Now Sakura was wandering around a park that was populated with families and couples galore, with no idea where to look. The overstuffed bag with clothes in it was beginning to hurt her shoulder. _Screw this_. She pulled out her phone and called Gaara’s number. He didn’t answer so she closed it.

Within seconds of her closing it the phone beeped. When she looked at it there was a text.

The lion statue: left path

She chuckled. _He won’t talk to me but he’ll text?_ She went to the statue and followed the left path and she got another text.

Ten steps before the Iris garden turn left

_My god it’s a like a sting operation_. She felt a little like a secret agent which was a little fun. Action movies were her favorite. Sakura made it to the garden and took ten steps backward. When she looked left there was only a congregation of trees and bushes. _This isn’t suspicious in any way._ Sakura did as the cryptic message said and started walking from the path into the trees. There was a clearing and Gaara was there in the center of it searching for something in his bag.

“What is this, a spy movie? Why didn’t you just pick up the phone?”

He looked up from his bag. **That’s such an ugly dress**. He told her, “You’re not wearing that. What else did you bring?”

She dumped the clothes out and he rummaged through them. **No. What? Why would she bring this? This is alright and these boots are good.** He laid out the outfit that was acceptable.

“Put this on,” he ordered and turned around so he wasn’t facing her. **That’s all the privacy she’s going to get.**

“Right here? Right now?”  Sakura asked.

“Yes. I’m not looking so go ahead.” **Is she really whining about this when I’ve seen her practically naked?** Gaara told himself not to peek as tempting as it was.

Sakura looked around to make sure that they weren’t visible from the path. It was pretty hidden. _Gaara’s good at finding places to hide himself_. She checked to make sure he wasn’t looking and quickly changed. A flared knee length black skirt and a red tank top. _Seems kind of boring._ She was pulling on her boots when Gaara spoke again, startling her.

“Don’t tie them. Leave them loose,” he told her.

“I totally thought that you’d sneak a peek…” she laughed as she pulled on the other boot.

“I have more restraint than Naruto or Sasuke…” he stated, slightly offended. _I beg to differ_ , Sakura thought while remembering her neck.

She finished and stood up. He looked at her. **How plain. We’ll have to do something about that.** Gaara stood and started pulling off his spiked bracelets and handed them to Sakura. His collar as well.

“Put these on and I’ll do your makeup.”

She clipped them on and jangled them. _Feels so weird._ Sakura then snapped the collar on. _Super weird_. He sized her up again. **Better but not quite done.**

“Sit.”

She dropped and he followed. Sakura handed whatever makeup she had to him and he tossed all the pink crap aside. **Eyeliner**. He instructed her not to move while he applied the eyeliner more thickly around her eyes. He applied more mascara. Eventually she had dark smoky eyes which went well with her green irises.

Gaara stared for a full minute. **Much better. If she wore it darker around her eyes more often it would bring out the color of her irises better.**

“Do I look good?” Sakura asked when his staring continued for too long.

“Better than satisfactory, at least. Something has to be done about your hair though…”

“What’s wrong with my hair?” she asked nervously.

Sakura felt like a little kid playing dress up. And Gaara was an older sister doing her hair. He sat cross legged behind her while she sat with her legs straight out. He was making tiny braids in her hair. _I feel silly. How does he know how to do this?_ He seemed to sense her question.

“You’re not the only model I’ve had. Jealous?” he asked. **What do I care about her jealousy?**

“Not really,” she admitted and Gaara felt a little disappointed at failing to arouse her anger. “Did you kiss and bite all of them?”

Gaara smirked. “Maybe; would that annoy you?”

 _Yes. It kind of would_. Gaara felt her stiffen and saw her hands clench the grass. **That got to her.** He found that he liked picking fights with her. **Perfect for sketching.**

He pulled her hair into a ponytail with the little braids streaming to the hair tie. He brought some silver hair clips and snapped them in as well. Perfect. **Now she looks like one of the Goths**. It actually seemed to suit her well. **She looks like a completely different person.**

“Alright go over there and lean against that tree. Read your book,” Gaara added as he reached for his paper and pencil. He began sharpening the tip with a razor blade.

Sakura pouted and pretended to read her book. _What a jerk. Dangling his exploits in my face. If I didn’t know any better I’d think he likes making me mad. Gets him off._

 **She looks annoyed**. He sketched quickly and focused mainly on the details in her face **.** She seemed relaxed against the tree but still perturbed. **I love that angry face**. Gaara blinked. **Did I really think that? I don’t think I’ve ever used that word before**.

“Am I allowed to talk while you sketch?” she asked.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” he responded.

“Oh, does it make it more difficult?”

“Not really; I prefer silence…”

Sakura glared and put the book down to her side and stared off into the trees. He flipped the page and sketched the new pose. Gaara’s eyes were constantly looking up then down. The scratching noise of the pencil on the paper was all that could be heard except for some birds chirping far away.

“I’m done with that pose. Relax for a minute while I sharpen my pencils again,” he told her and she sat down on the grass near him.

Gaara pulled out the razor blade and chopped at the pencil tip again. Sakura stared at the blade wondering if he’d ever used it to cut himself before. There weren’t any scars on his wrists so she assumed no. _I’m relieved that not all Goth kid stereotypes are true._

“Can you lie on your stomach or are you still in too much pain?” he asked never looking up from his pencil. **I’d hate for her to do a pose that hurts.**

“I could probably do it. I took some aspirin before I came here…” Sakura was sure she’d be alright. _That was nice of him to ask._

Sakura laid down onto a patch of moss gently and winced until she managed to get comfortable. She sighed and began her reading again with one arm propped up on her face and the other on the book on the ground. She kicked her legs up and down but Gaara didn’t seem to mind.

 **She looks so pensive. I wonder what she’s thinking about**. After that sketch he moved so that he could look at her from the front. Gaara drew more. **No one would ever recognize her, except for her pink hair.**

After a while her stomach hurt and without asking she rolled over while resting the book on her chest and her hands on the binding. Sakura closed her eyes and sighed.

“Keep your eyes shut, like you’re sleeping,” Gaara told her as he flipped to the next page quickly. **A gothic sleeping beauty.** He finished that sketch quickly and flipped to the next page.

 “Don’t move,” he said as he pulled the hair tie out and splayed her hair along the grass. He scribbled energetically and had everything drawn except her face. Gaara drew her small nose and then her pouty lips. **I remember they were very soft** and his sketching slowed. **Her eyes…wide and fier** y. He shook his head and wiped the image from his mind.

He drew another of the same pose from the side. Gaara was exceedingly close and saw that her stud was exposed where her shirt was pulled up a little. He sketched her tight stomach and moderate chest quickly. **I’ll admit…her body is pretty nice…If she dressed like this more often…** Gaara shook his head again. **Stop thinking like that. She doesn’t like you like that. The kiss the other night was just her curiosity showing and my bravado.**

“Alright, I’m done,” he said 10 minutes later. But she didn’t move. “You asleep? Get up.”

Sakura remained holding the book to her chest. Gaara kneeled down and debated whether he wanted to shake her or not. Sakura wasn’t asleep. Not at all. She wanted to see what Gaara would do when confronted with the moral dilemma of a sleeping and defenseless girl. It was her turn to prank him.

_Of course, I’m neither asleep nor defenseless._

**She’s not really out, is she**? Gaara checked out her body. She seemed to be breathing evenly. He pulled the book from her hands and checked out the title. Taming of the Shrew. **I know one way to find out.** He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“I know you’re not asleep…and if you keep pretending to be I’ll bite you again…” his husky voice in her ear. Sakura tried not to freeze but failed. Gaara noticed her tense up. **Yeah, she’s awake. But…**

 **She’s not getting up even though I called her out on it. Does that mean something? That she wants me to do it?** Gaara reached over and tilted her head to show the unbitten side of her neck. **Not so hard this time. No bleeding, no scars.**

“You won’t move so I assume you want this…” he grazed his teeth against her skin. “Do you want it?”

He seemed to be waiting for an answer. _Do I want more?_ The other night was fun and exhilarating. She would love to do that again. And here Gaara was offering it, so in some way he wanted to do it as well.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Gaara’s tongue slid across her neck as he climbed over her body. Sakura could feel the heat from his legs next to hers. _He’s on top of me. Licking my neck._ He bit down on her skin. She held back an exclamation this time and noticed it wasn’t nearly as painful as last time.

Gaara felt her relax into his bite and it confirmed his suspicions that she wanted it. **She wants me. No one ever wants me. **He sucked hard on her neck.

“Mmmm,” she sighed. Gaara tongued her ear again and nibbled on her lobe. His face was barely an inch from hers. Her light breathing was enticing. Her lips inviting.

Gaara delved his tongue into her mouth without warning. And her eyes shot open only to flutter closed again. He bit at her lip and her tongue twisted with his. Sakura finally brought her hands up and grabbed his shirt to pull his body closer.

“Hey,” he broke away from the kiss. “Easy on my shirt. It’s Led Zepplin.”

“I don’t care,” she laughed. “If you’re worried about it get rid of it.”

He considered her comment and came up with one of his own.

“You take it off,” Gaara told her. Sakura stared astounded and sat up. He leaned back on his knees but still over her. _He likes telling people what to do. Likes giving orders. What a control freak._

“Fine, I will…” she talked back with a defiant look in her eye. Gaara said it as a command but she took it as a challenge and she wasn’t one to back down from a dare.

Sakura reached around the hem of his shirt and lifted slowly revealing his scarred pale chest. She pulled the shirt gently off his head making sure the cloth didn’t get caught on his piercings. Her eyes wandered over his chest. Her dainty fingers ran over the scars. **She’s staring at them again. And touching them.**

“You’re not going to cry again, are you?” he asked when her hands lingered on a scar from a beer bottle near his abdomen.

“No…” Sakura sighed. She wrapped her hands around his back and pulled her lips to the scar.

Gaara’s face was flushed **. She’s kissing my scar?** Sakura kissed another that was near it. Something about the tender action of kissing his healed injuries made him want to hold her. **I’m so used to rough foreplay but Sakura is so…gentle. I’m not used to this. I’ve never wanted to hold someone before.**

His face met hers again and kissed deeply. Slowly she was brought back down to the ground but her hands never left his back. Gaara’s hand was twitching. He wanted to touch her.

He licked her collarbone as his hand slipped up her tank top, carefully avoiding her stud. That silver stud that he didn’t care about at first but now thought was alluring as hell. He reached the edge of her bra and ran his fingers over it.

Sakura was taking slow breaths trying to keep calm but it was difficult with Gaara’s tongue deep in her mouth. She had never had a boyfriend or partner to experience this beforehand and she had to admit it was a little overwhelming. His hand reached up and touched the lacy part of her bra. _He knows what he’s doing I suppose. That’s a little weird though. It means he has experience in this area but I don’t…_

“Sakura, have you ever done anything like this before?” he asked her, suckling on her neck. It was like he was reading her thoughts again.

“It’s that obvious? No…I’ve never,” she looked away, embarrassed. “But you have…”

“Yes,” he admitted, “but…”

Gaara took the back of his hand and gently rubbed it back and forth on her inner thigh. His fingernails lightly scraping the skin making Sakura shiver.  His hand would get closer and closer to her center only to pull slowly away. It made her nervous and excited at the same time.

Gaara rested his lips against her ear. “…I’ve never enjoyed it like this before,” he growled and stuck his tongue in her ear, eliciting a moan. She could feel the cold silver of his lip piercing against her neck.

His fingers pressed lightly against her panties and Sakura gasped. **She really hasn’t done something like this before? She’s very warm.** He felt the hot dampness on the cloth **. And wet.** He was getting turned on and aggressive sexual images passed through his mind. The images of things he did with other girls.

Gaara wanted nothing more than to tie her down and ravage her. Holding down her wrists and forcefully thrust into her. Thoughts of violent sex were all that occupied his mind. **I’ve never had sex that wasn’t rough. I wouldn’t know how to do it without hurting her.**

He remembered the painful bite mark on her neck. Then the smack she received from Sasuke, the sound echoing in his mind. Doing this would only injure her more. **I can’t do this. She doesn’t deserve that. Just cause I’m damaged goods doesn’t mean I should turn someone else into them.**

Gaara reluctantly pulled away from her body and felt the heat slowly dissipating from his own. Sakura noticed that he’d stopped and looked at him, confused.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“N-Nothing,” he stuttered. **I’ve never been nervous about sex before. It’s always been fairly easy for me.** Gaara grabbed his things and put them in his bag.

_Why is he in such a hurry to leave? Is it because of something I said again?_

“What are we doing Sakura?” he asked, his mind searching for a reason to stop their interaction. “We don’t belong together. Like oil and water. You’re a cheerleader…and I’m a human reject. Aren’t you worried about your image? You don’t know what it’s like to get bullied for being different.”

Gaara was willing to use any excuse to get rid of her. Anything to stop their contact. **She’s a spoiled and naïve girl but I can’t just ruin her. I’d be no better than Sasuke.**

 _I was worried before_, she admitted. Sakura was concerned about their image at school for a while but kissing him had blown that worry away. Now she was thinking it was stupid to worry about. _What’s the worst that could happen?_

“You’ll lose any respect you have with your friends at the school. You’ll be the target of jeering jokes and pranks. I know you can’t handle it…”

“Why did you call yourself that? A human reject?” she asked, ignoring his statement.

Gaara reached for the razorblade he used for sharpening his pencil but stopped **. I’ve done a lot of bad things, where to even start?** He put the sharp implement into his bag.

“I’m not a good person Sakura. Just because I work at the animal shelter doesn’t mean I’m without faults. I did drugs for a while and vandalized houses and that’s not even the worst thing I’ve done. Everyone thinks I’m obsessed with death because of the way I dress, but it’s just a way to get people to leave me alone. To scare them away…”

Sakura stared. It was the most Gaara had said about himself in one sitting. _He used to be a drug user and a vandal. But he said used to. So that means not anymore, right?_ After taking it all in Sakura finally had something to say.

“Why do you want to scare people away?”

“I’m a damaged person Sakura. Broken. If you get too close to me I’ll hurt you. Damage you. Even now I want to…” he stopped and put his shirt back on. **Break you.** **Attack you. Hold you. Make love to you. It’s all so conflicted.**

Sakura listened intently.

 Gaara glared at her. **She doesn’t understand how difficult this is. I’ve already told her more than I wanted. If I don’t want to hurt her then I have to scare her away. I’ll give her a reason to run.**

“Tell you a secret Sakura,” Gaara said then he pinned her to the ground, catching her off guard.

Sakura was scared. He was acting different than a few minutes ago. Something about his demeanor reminded her about when she showed up at the shelter unannounced. Like she’d overstepped a boundary again. His bright greenish eyes were glaring at her.

“Want to know that worst thing? That monstrous thing I’ve done? I’ve killed a person before…” he looked right into her eyes as they widened. “Two, actually…does that scare you?”

Sakura swallowed _. A little. Who am I kidding? More than a little. To talk about killing people… I’m terrified but I can’t bring myself to move._

“Never approach me again, unless you want to face a murderer…”

***

Gaara didn’t come over on Sunday and he finished the project in no time flat by himself. Sakura spent the entirety of Sunday thinking about him and the things he said to her. _He killed two people…Who? Wouldn’t he be in jail?_

“Not if he did it when he was a kid…” Sakura mused. _That’s it. Must be. Probably before he turned into a foster kid._ Sakura blanched. _It’s probably the reason he became a foster kid…He doesn’t have any parents. Maybe he killed them…?_

Sakura shook the thought of a small child stabbing his parents to death. _No way. I can’t see him brutally killing his parents. This is stupid; I’ll just ask his sister._ Sakura pulled out her phone and dialed Temari. On the third ring there was an answer.

“Hey Sakura, what do you need?” Temari seemed chipper which was starting to bother Sakura less and less.

“Is Gaara there?” Sakura asked.

“Ugh, no. Did you seriously call me to talk to him? I could give you his number…” Temari sighed.

“No! I already have it, but I wanted to talk to you…about him…is that alright?” Sakura seemed unsure.

“Yeah, sure, what do you want to know?” Temari shouldered the phone and clipped her nails.

Sakura explained what happened at the park with as little detail as possible. She explained the sketching and the making out. The stripping of the shirt was left out intentionally. Finally Sakura got to the part she was most anxious about. Gaara’s confession about murder.

“Is it true? Did he really kill someone? Or is he just trying to get rid of me?” Sakura waited in anticipation for an answer.

Temari heaved out a heavy sigh and put down the clippers. “Does he really still think that? Geez, Gaara. Talk about self-sabotage…”

“What do you mean?” Sakura’s interest extremely piqued. It brightened her thoughts. _Does this mean he lied?_

“Sakura, our mom died giving birth to Gaara. And our dad killed himself afterwards.”

“Oh my god…I had no idea…I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Kankuro and I adjusted. Someone told Gaara it was his fault when he was six…”

Sakura frowned, now depressed. _I knew he was a foster kid but…holy crap, Gaara thinks it’s his fault that his parents are dead. He sees it like he murdered them. No wonder he thought he deserved abuse and didn’t deserve happiness._ With this new information Sakura was also strengthened. She wasn’t scared about seeing Gaara again. In fact she was determined to see him. Now if she could.

“Thanks, Temari. This helps a lot. Do you know where Gaara is now?” she asked. He wouldn’t answer his phone if she called. She had to find him.

“Sunday so…wherever Gaara likes to be when he wants to be alone,” Temari informed her.

“Okay, I know where to look,” Sakura was about to hang up but Temari told her to hold on a minute.

“Sakura. My brother wasn’t lying about everything. He did a boatload of drugs until about 6 months ago. He was caught vandalizing an abandoned house and had to do community service and rehab. He gets himself into trouble so that no one will get close to him. Gaara is always alone but that doesn’t mean he likes it.”

“Then why? Why do it?” Sakura wondered.

“Gaara feels he taints everything he touches. He sees it as doing everyone else a favor at the expense of his happiness. I don’t know if that helps but…there you go. A little insight into Gaara.”

Sakura thanked her again and hung up. _To the shelter_!

Her car rumbled and bumped down the road. Her thoughts were just as jumbled. _What should I say to Gaara?_ Thinking things ahead were not really her forte. She functioned better when thinking off the cuff. But something about this situation reminded her of something. Someone she had had this talk with before.

In minutes Sakura arrived and was parking her rusted heap as close to the front as she could. She spied two cars and a bike chained to a flag pole _._ Sakura walked into the door and came face to face with someone she didn’t expect.

“Kiba? What are you doing here?” she faked a smile, remembering that he was good friends with Sasuke.

“Sakura, been a while. How’s your neck? Sleeping better?” he asked. She nodded when she finally remembered her cover story for her bite mark. _Sasuke hasn’t told his best friend. At least he’s keeping it to himself._

“My Mom owns this place. My family usually works here. I only came to bring mom and sis her lunch.”

“Oh!” Sakura gasped when she finally saw the resemblance. “I thought they looked familiar.”

Kiba excused himself and left without further questions. Sakura said hi to Kiba’s mom who was busy devouring a burrito. She was given the go ahead to look around. Sakura checked the cat room but Gaara wasn’t there. The dog room also brought no results. Finally Sakura peeked into the washroom and there he was scrubbing a pit-bull.

“Hey,” she called in and he jumped. Sakura suppressed a snicker but Gaara blatantly glared.

“I thought I told you not to come here…” he grumbled but there was no conviction in his voice. **I thought she’d finally give up after what I told her yesterday.**

“I know but I wanted to see you,” Sakura told him. **To see me?** “Well, to talk to you really,” she corrected.

Gaara rinsed the dog and seconds later it shook, getting water everywhere. Sakura laughed and Gaara gave a tiny smirk.

“I talked to your sister…about you…” she started. _Might as well get it all out there_. “Since you never want to tell me the whole story anyway. I almost always have to get it from someone else’s mouth.”

He was listening but toweling off the dog came first. **She really is the nosiest little monster**. He rubbed it down and tilted his head towards her to indicate he was listening. She swallowed before starting again.

“I am scared,” she admitted, “but not because of what you said before and not of you.”

“Oh, yeah? Murder doesn’t frighten you?” he asked. **Brave. It scares me.**

“Sure it does, but you’re not a murderer and I refuse to see you that way.”

The dog was dry and Gaara looped a finger into its collar to lead it to its temporary home. Sakura followed in silence, waiting for a response from Gaara. He gave the dog a gentle push into the cell and closed it. It clicked shut and the dog was secure.

“So why are you afraid then?” he finally spoke.

“Because you won’t open up, I’m scared of what you’re doing to yourself. You’re afraid to let me know things about you…You lie so that no one can get close or get to know you better…” she stared for a prolonged period of time. “I’d like to get to know you better…”

The connotations of that sentence got Gaara thinking. **She’s persistent. Why won’t she just give up? I’m a lost cause. Not worth wasting her time on.** A secret thought came bubbling to the surface. The thought that he actually wanted the attention from her. He desperately tried to cast out that thought.

“You want to get closer to me? Even though I murdered my parents?” he asked her dead on, his agitation with her rising.

“No you didn’t,” she tried to argue.

“I’m the reason they are dead! It’s my fault!” he yelled not able to contain himself.

The barking dogs in some areas quieted while others got noisier to compete with Gaara’s exclamation. Sakura had never heard him go a decibel over a growl; this yell was definitely out of character for him and kind of shook her.

“All the time I wake up wanting to scream because I know that if it weren’t for me, my parents wouldn’t be dead! Kankuro and Temari would have a great life! They never would have entered the foster system! You don’t know what it feels like! Everyone would be much better off if I’d died instead!”

SMACK!

The sound of her open hand hitting his face bounced off the walls and all seemed to go silent for the two. Gaara’s face was stunned into silence. He hadn’t seen the slap coming. It didn’t hurt that much, it was just surprising. Sakura was ready to cry but her anger kept her from doing so.

“How dare you say such a thing?! Thinking that no one is better for knowing you!” she exclaimed. “There are lots of people who like you. You’re brother and sister. The group of people that you refuse to call friends. They wouldn’t hang with you if they didn’t like you! Even I feel I’m better for knowing you. And I’m sure there will be many more people!”

Sakura lowered her hand to her sides and clenched it tightly. She felt awful inside for hitting him but she felt there was no other way to wake him from the downward spiral he was letting himself fall into. He saw her grit her teeth before speaking again.

“And if you ever say that you wish you were dead again…I’ll never forgive you!” she exclaimed, pointing at him. “Your mother died so that you could live. The least you can do is enjoy what you’ve been given. It was your father’s choice to kill himself. Not yours, so you shouldn’t act as if you had an active role in that decision.”

Gaara stared at her, bewildered by her. He felt like he was being scolded. Scolded by a real mother. **I feel like a child**. Her furious face didn’t seem to be letting up. Suddenly, she took a deep breath as if to calm herself. It seemed to work and her demeanor took on a less irritated tone.

 “Now to answer your question. Yes, I still want to know you better.”

Gaara couldn’t believe it. **She really won’t back down**. He was beginning to respect her a little more…Perhaps even admire her. The way she talked about his problems sounded as if she’d had this argument before. Gaara couldn’t imagine with whom though.  

“Fine, whatever,” he mumbled, pretending not to care. Her kindness seemed to know no bounds.

“I’m sorry that I hit you,” she apologized while bowing down as far as she could.

“Don’t worry about it…” he said. **It wasn't that much of a hit.** He rubbed his cheek. **That’s a lie. It hurt my pride more than anything though.** “…I suppose I needed it.”

He opened another stall. Gaara brought out a little cocker spaniel out and led it to the tub for its wash. Sakura stood straight up again and turned to follow.

“So, we can still hang out? Be friends?” she followed behind him like a puppy. _Maybe more than friends?_

“Sure, whatever. Just know that I don’t care about the consequences of what can happen to you for befriending me…” he told her flatly. “It’s your responsibility, not mine.”

Sakura nodded. _It’s a far cry from dating but at least he’ll let me stay. Who knows…maybe eventually we’ll be closer. Well, as close as Gaara will let me get…It all depends on him_. Sakura could accept that. As impatient as she was, this was something she didn't mind waiting for.


	8. Throwing the Wolf of the Scent

 Chapter 8: Throwing the Wolf off the scent

 

Sakura was at a loss. _Why didn’t I think about this before now?_ She was walking into the cafeteria before class wondering what she should do. Sakura saw Ino, Hinata and Shino chatting at the table she normally sat at. But she also saw Gaara with his parasites. _Where do I go?_ _It seems like such a no brainer. I should sit with Gaara right?_

 _What if it would embarrass him? Does he want our classmates to know that we’re friends now?_ Sakura wished they had discussed this before she left on Sunday. Her head hurt _. I’m so conflicted. WHAT DO I DO?!_

Sakura pulled out a sticky note and scribbled something on it. _Hope this helps_.

***

Gaara peered over out of the corner of his eye and saw Sakura come into the cafeteria. She looked to his table and to another. A worried look was splayed across her face. **She doesn’t know where to sit** _._ Gaara wanted to chuckle but he didn’t. **What a dunce**.

Sakura surprised him when she started for his table. **Is she really going to sit over here?** When she finally arrived the group got quiet. None of them said anything but Temari winked at her.

“Uh, Gaara, I have a note from Anko about class. Here,” she handed it to Gaara and he took it. “See you in class later for the PowerPoint presentation.”

She walked a good distance to her table and looked over her shoulder. Gaara’s eyes widened in realization. **The note’s from her.** He opened it casually and read its contents:

I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do! I thought I’d come over and sit with you but I didn’t know if your friends would like that because I punched Kin in the face. But I didn’t want to sit down with my friends and make you feel like I don’t care so I wrote this to explain myself. You’ll have to tell me next time what I should do because I have no idea!! **-.-;**

-Sakura  <3

Gaara snorted and the entire table looked at him with questioning glances. No one hears Gaara laugh, chuckle or snicker often. **What a dork. I don’t care where she sits.**

He shoved the note in his pocket. **She signed it with a heart** …The bell rang and Gaara left to his first class with a tiny smile on his face.

***

Sakura’s first two classes went by fast and soon she’d have to go to her locker and exchange her books. She already asked Tenten to walk with her to the lockers. _I haven’t forgotten what Gaara said about Sasuke._ They made it to her locker and Sakura opened it. There was a paper on top of her books.

“What’s this?” she grabbed it and stared.

It was one of the sketches from Saturday. Sakura was leaning against a tree, decked out in Goth props. Her eyes staring off into the sky and strands of hair loose in her face and swaying in the breeze _. I didn’t recognize myself._ There was a note at the bottom:

Finished this painting in class today. 

-Gaara  

Sakura smiled and put the picture in a folder nice and flat. _He wrote me a note. A short one but still. It’s a note._ The grin plastered on Sakura’s face didn’t go unnoticed.

Tenten piped up. “Was that a drawing?”

Sakura realized that Tenten didn’t recognize the model. She also didn’t see the little note at the bottom. She was in the mood to tease her friend.

“Oh, nothing…just a love letter…”

Tenten’s eyes got huge. The size of dinner plates.

“WHO?” the double bunned brunette had to know. “Was it from Lee?”

Sakura snorted at the answer. It seemed the most likely. When Sakura shook her head ‘no’ Tenten let out a sigh of relief. _Sigh of relief_? Sakura gave Tenten a playful smirk.

“You like…Lee…don’t you…?” Sakura grinned devilishly.

“N-no! I didn’t say that!” Tenten blubbered. _It’s true!_ When Tenten realized that Sakura knew the truth she begged her not to tell. _I could have sworn she was part of the Neji Fan Club. Maybe she switched to Team Bushy Brows after getting rejected too many times._ She promised to keep it to herself.

Sakura spent the rest of the day feeling pretty good. The computer presentation went well but the grades wouldn’t be out for another day or two more. Practice for cheerleading ran as usual. Temari and Shikamaru seemed to be getting close as evidence from the yelp she gave out when he did a one-handed lift. It seems one of his fingers was not exactly where it should’ve been. Though she didn’t exactly complain to him after practice.

Gaara left with Temari when she came out, leaving Sakura to feel a little disappointed. _I was hoping we’d get to talk…_ Sakura shrugged. _I suppose I’ll see him tomorrow._

***

Sakura tried to find time to talk to Gaara alone but in school it was nearly impossible. No matter what there always seemed to be an obstacle that Sakura couldn’t get through unless she killed it, and that was somewhat frowned upon in high school. And illegal. If she saw him alone he would suddenly be accompanied by one of his group. Or the bell would ring. Or Sasuke would be nearby. Or someone would call Sakura over.

“I’ll rip the tongue out of the next person to get in my way…”she growled in the middle of class. _I want to talk to him. Everyone gets in the way and Sasuke makes it impossible. I don’t think there is any way to reason with him._

The only relief she got was when she checked her locker at midday, it had a note addressed to her. It was short, a sentence or two. It was enough to keep her spirits up. It was usually something as simple as, Got a new piercing in my brow or Received new pencils from the art teacher. Nothing in particular aimed toward her but the fact that he was writing her was enough.

Sakura wrote him too but they were often long winded letters. How are things at Kankuro’s? How are the kittens at the shelter? Are the ferrets still there? Are your paintings coming along? Can I see them? So many questions and rarely did he answer them.

“Sakura, you seem kinda down? Are you okay?” Naruto asked from across the row. His concerned stare inspired a sympathetic glance from her.

“I’m cool Naruto. Just tired,” she sighed. Tired of letter writing and anxious for some lip locking. Sakura smacked herself. _Wow! What a leap. I went from ‘I just want to be friends’ to ‘I want to suck his face’ in less time than it takes to apply lip gloss._

Sometimes she saw Gaara in the hall and Sakura wanted to pounce on him. She kept her body in check however by reminding herself that the hallways had eyes. And those eyes had mouths. It didn’t stop her from thinking about him though. _I want to lick his lip ring…_ Sakura’s face turned red with the thought. _I need to calm down. Just friends…just friends…yeah right…_

The week went by exceedingly slowly. On Thursday Sakura went to her locker to discover that there was no note this time. She was a bit disappointed. _Maybe I’m early and he hasn’t come yet. I’ll just wait since my class is only a couple feet away._ The hallway thinned out until there were almost no people. The familiar feeling that she shouldn’t be there alone overcame her. _I should go before I attract a vulture._ It was too late for that.

“Hey Sakura,” the snake-like voice came from around the corner. “No friends around today?”

 “I’m late for class Sasuke, so move out of my way,” she tried to brush him off and push past him but he quickly blocked her path.

“Late? Then why were you waiting around your locker? Expecting someone?” he sneered.

“If I was, it wouldn’t be any of your business. Now move or I’ll yell,” Sakura warned.

He moved gracefully out her path and put his arm out to reveal the way. _He thinks he’s so cool. What an overconfident pig._

“I’ll scare him away Sakura. Whoever he is…There’s a reason I’m King at this school. He’ll never want to come near you again,” he threatened and went on his way.

Sakura went quickly to her class and sat down in relief. She furiously went about scribbling her next note to Gaara.

***

Gaara was casually reading her note in his art class. It was a long one. **Doesn’t she know how to condense her thoughts?** Once he finished he folded and put it away. Gaara resumed painting with things on his mind.

The note told him that Sasuke cornered her again. Fortunately he didn’t do anything but she wouldn’t be so lucky next time. **Sakura needs to be more careful**. The strokes of his brush were shaky because of his lack of focus. **I don’t want her getting hit by him again. Or worse.**

“I need to take care of this or Sakura could be in trouble,” Gaara sighed. **I won’t have her hurt because of me again.**

***

Sasuke was waiting. He wasn’t far from her locker and knew she’d have to show eventually. It was shocking when he saw Gaara arrive at her locker and slip a piece of paper into the slot. He didn’t stick around and soon Gaara was off to his next class. Sasuke wished he knew Sakura’s combination so he could look at the note.

“It really was him?” Sasuke couldn’t believe it. “I was only kidding about that Goth punk but it’s him…That’s who she’s all hot and bothered about?”

Sasuke resolved the visit the red head after classes were done for the day outside the art room. His fist clenched in his pocket. He was going to make Gaara regret taking Sakura from him.

***

“Gaara lock up when you’re done will you? I have a board meeting so I need to leave now,” the art teacher was gathering his things.

“Sure,” Gaara mumbled. **I’m almost done anyway.** He was putting the finishing touches on his last Sakura piece. They all still lacked the pink paint. For which he was somewhat glad. He didn’t want everyone in school to know of her when the art went on display eventually.

After the last stroke of paint was put on Gaara placed the piece on a drying rack. He was getting more compliments lately on these recent works. All wanted to know who the model was. Gaara smirked. **Like I would ever tell them**. Most assumed that Gaara made her up, that she was a figment of his dark imagination. **She kinda is…the gothic part anyway…**

He grabbed his Anarchy shoulder bag and left the room. Gaara was met with onyx eyes and immediately his own narrowed. **What does he want?** He had a sinking feeling that the basketball captain was there for a certain reason. Sakura.

“So it was you this whole time?” he asked. “I never would have guessed. Beauty and the Freak,” Sasuke snickered.

Gaara just stood there. **So he knows the bite was me. Well, maybe I can do something about this now without Sakura getting involved.**

“Yeah, so? Sakura wants you to leave her alone,” Gaara stared.

“Never going to happen until she’s mine. I have a thing for girls like Sakura,” Sasuke smirked.

 **What does he mean by that?** Gaara didn’t like the way Sasuke said it.

 “Girls like Sakura? Kind, smart, attractive?”

Sasuke laughed and it made Gaara uncomfortable. “God no! Why would I care about those things? Kind? Not interested. Smart? Hardly, she’d starve in a super market. And I could care less about her beauty. That kind of look can be found anywhere…”

Gaara growled. “Then why her?”

“I heard she was a virgin and madly in love with me. She made an easy target,” Sasuke grinned. “But she said no and went simpering to you, the bottom of the barrel.”

Gaara wanted to punch his brains out. **This guy, what a slime ball. Sasuke doesn’t care about her at all. He’d do her then dump her. He’s trying to screw her out of spite now because she said no.** She was just another conquest and that thought made Gaara sick to his stomach. **All because he has a thing for virgins.** This gave Gaara an idea.

“You’re out of luck then, Uchiha,” Gaara said smoothly. Sasuke stopped smiling.

“Why’s that?” Sasuke glared and came closer **. He looks mad. I’ll bet this will make her less appealing to him.**

“I already took care of that detail before you,” Gaara looked to the side.

Gaara received a blow from nowhere to his abdomen. It knocked the wind out of him and he nearly fell. Then an elbow struck Gaara hard on the back and the artist hit the floor with a thud.

“Liar!” Sasuke growled. Sasuke stomped on his back. “Why would she sleep with you? When she could have me?”

Gaara let the blows fall and didn’t fight back. Sasuke kicked him in the side as hard as he could. When Gaara tried to curl up to lessen the damage Sasuke then kicked and stomped his knees and shins. Many of the hits landed on his back. Gaara felt like it’d been forever but in reality it was only 10 minutes.

“How dare you take what was mine! Now she’s worthless! Just like YOU!” Sasuke yelled as his heel hit Gaara hard in forehead.

Sasuke spat on him and then left him there on the floor. For a while Gaara didn’t move. Pain radiated from everywhere. He took slow, shallow breaths. **Everything aches. Can I stand?** The throbbing in his ribs hurt the most out of everything. Gaara saw some blood drip from the cut made by Sasuke’s heel kick.

Gaara put his hands on the floor and slowly pushed himself up. Drip. Drip. **My arms aren’t so bad.** **Only a little banged up.** He eventually, after a little wavering, made it to his feet. Now the blood made a little trail through his brow and into his eye. He clasped it shut so more wouldn’t enter.

“Sasuke could’ve given my old man a run for his money. Heh,” Gaara chuckled but then immediately stopped because it hurt his sides. He leaned against the wall for some support. **Bastard. But maybe he’ll leave Sakura alone now.** Gaara dragged his bag as he made his way to the bathroom to clean himself up before going home with his siblings.

***

Sakura pouted when she arrived at school on Friday and Gaara wasn’t there. _Maybe he’s skipping again to work at the shelter. Surely, he would have mentioned it in his letters._ She tried calling his phone but it went straight to voicemail. Shoving her phone into her pocket, she cursed. _I hate when I can’t reach him_.

Temari was there but she didn’t know why Gaara wasn’t there either.

“Gaara wouldn’t come out of his room this morning. Told me to go to school without him,” Temari revealed.  Sakura couldn’t hide the disappointment from her face.

“Oh, I was hoping I could give him a letter today…” Sakura sighed. She felt no need to hide the attraction from Temari and in fact was glad she had someone to confide in. It’s hard keeping a secret but this helped. Temari was the only one she knew who would approve.

Sakura saw Sasuke looking over at her but then he turned his head with a sneer _. How strange. Normally his eyes won’t leave me until class starts, not that I’m complaining._

“Do you want to come over after practice Sakura? To Kankuro’s place?” the blonde asked.

“Could I? I mean…would that be okay?” Sakura asked. _Would Gaara be alright with that? I don’t want to invade his space again without permission._

Temari told her not to worry about it and had already settled the matter. Sakura would be following them to the older brother’s home after the squad’s practice.

The drills that day weren’t too bad. Sakura had started running again. Her time was a little behind for all the days she sat by resting. She was back to doing tricks but not without regretting the stomach pain later. Advil had become her best friend lately because of it. When the exercise had come to an end Sakura found herself following Temari and Kankuro.

Sakura felt her vehicle was acting a little weird but the lousy truck made it to the apartment building. She stayed in step behind them and once they arrived at the 8th floor Sakura got excited _. I’ve never seen his home before. This is awesome!_

“Make yourself at home,” Kankuro told her.

The apartment was tiny but it was tidy. She took her shoes off and left them at the door. The living room area was divided from the kitchen by a counter. From what Sakura could tell there were 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. It wasn’t luxurious but it gave them all they needed.

Kankuro said he had to go to his second job but to help herself to anything she wanted to drink in the fridge. Sakura thanked him and he left. Temari signaled Sakura to follow her so she did. They went down the hall silently until they came to the last door.

“Gaara’s room,” Temari mouthed.

“Temari, you there?” Gaara’s voice was muffled due to the door. “Bring me the antiseptic. Cotton balls, too. ”

Temari went into the bathroom and grabbed what Gaara asked for. She shoved the contents into Sakura’s hands. _Why would he want these?_ Temari knocked on the door.

“Got ‘em. Want me to bring them in?” she asked.

“Yeah, whatever. Just get in here.”

“I’ll leave you two alone,” she whispered a giggle. Temari opened the door and shoved Sakura inside with the medicine and closed the door.

The room consisted of a bed and about a dozen boxes stacked around the room. There was a computer, from which music was pulsing. Gaara’s garbage bags were there on the floor but they were half empty. It was cramped.

Gaara was lying on his stomach without a shirt. He had on a pair of black sweatpants and that was it. His face was buried in a pillow. _Oh my god…his back_. She had to hold her palm to her mouth to keep from gasping. The bruises were numerous and ranged in size from resembling a fist to looking like a shoeprint. The skin broken in many places. _What happened?_

“Put some of that stuff on the marks,” he ordered.

Sakura quietly took a seat next to him on the bed and dabbed the cotton balls with the liquid. She pat the cool cotton onto the marks making him flinch and growl. The medication stung furiously and he clenched his teeth and gripped the pillow his face was buried in. **I should have asked Temari to do this earlier before she left for class**.

Sakura said nothing hoping that Gaara might tell ‘Temari’ how it happened. She got another cotton ball and repeated her process on another mark. There were still plenty left.

“Don’t tell Sakura about this. She won’t understand…” Gaara mumbled through the pillow. **Maybe it’s a good thing I waited for her to come home. Temari wouldn’t have been able to keep her mouth shut for long.**

Sakura continued to dab the alcohol on the wounds, all the while holding back the tears every time he cringed at the sting _. I know I’m not the one who hurt him but seeing him like this hurts me._ When she was finished Sakura capped the bottle and tossed the nasty cotton balls into the nearby wastebasket.

“Get out, Temari. I can get the ones on the front,” he commanded.

Sakura didn’t move out of shock. _There are more?!  How could you let someone do this to you_? She continued to sit and Gaara got impatient.

“Didn’t you hear me? I told you to leave…” he growled. When she still maintained her spot he finally sat up and turned. “I said-!”

Gaara’s words were caught in his throat. **Sakura?!** His eyes searched the room but Temari was nowhere in sight. **She was…** Gaara’s face turned red in embarrassment with the realization that Sakura had been treating his wounds.

“What are you doing here?” he managed to grit past his teeth as he tried to turn and sit up. **She wasn’t supposed to come here. I didn’t want her to see me like this.**

“You weren’t at school…I was worried…” she told him. The bruises on his torso were just as numerous as his back. There was a bandage over his forehead on his tattoo. “I suppose I had good reason to be worried by the look of you…”

Gaara looked away, unable to hold her cheerless gaze.

“It isn’t as bad as it looks. Mostly bruises and cuts. He only cracked one rib…” Gaara tried to reassure her but this new information didn’t relieve Sakura at all.

“There’s a foot print here! And here! There’s like 5 of them, Gaara!” Sakura was horrified and now slightly angry. Someone beat Gaara to a pulp and now Sakura wasn’t going to leave until she knew who did it so she could return the favor. Sakura looked down at his bare chest again. Would there be new scars joining the old? Sakura hoped not.

Sakura had long given up holding back the tears but right now she was more angry than sad. She glared through watery eyes.

 “Who?” Sakura begged. Sakura’s pleading gaze weakened Gaara.

“It was Uchiha…” Gaara mumbled.

Sakura was stunned by this. She never thought that Sasuke would go this far. If this is what he did to Gaara, what could he have done to her? It scared her. A new thought occurred to Sakura that terrified her even more. _Would Sasuke do this again?_   _Maybe to me next time?_

“Why would you let him beat you? Oh, why didn’t you fight back?” she asked in earnest.

“I had my reasons. Did he bug you at all today?” he asked snatching the antiseptic from Sakura. He dabbed a cut on his collarbone.

Sakura shook her head. _I see. Gaara took the beating for me_. Sakura sniffed and wiped her eyes _. That doesn’t make me feel any better. It wasn’t worth the price of Gaara’s injuries_. Sakura was upset that Gaara didn’t inform her immediately. She swiped the bottle back from him.

“Lay down and I’ll take care of it,” she told him.

“I can do it myself,” he informed her.

“I said I’ll take care of it!” she glared. “So lie down.”

Gaara reluctantly obeyed and lowered his back carefully to the bed. Sakura climbed over and straddled his waist to keep him from moving. It made Gaara nervous but he could tell from her face that her intentions were pure. She patted the injuries on his upper chest with a wet cotton ball. One of them was shaped like a crescent moon, like a heel print. Gaara tried not to look at her sympathetic stare and when the stinging solution touched his skin he refused to wince. He was ashamed to have her see him like this. **And I promised her I wouldn’t get beat again…**

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “It happened yesterday. I should have told you then…”

“It’s okay. You told me now and that’s that. I forgive you,” she smiled.

Sakura dabbed at a cut on his stomach and a nearby scrape. He failed at holding back a wince when it contacted the wound. _At least I can take care of him now. If this means Sasuke is going to leave me alone then one good thing came from this._

“Sasuke…he wanted to…”Gaara paused, unsure if he should say. **How would she take it?**

“What?” Sakura stopped touching the cotton to his skin.

“He only wanted you because he likes virgins. That’s what he said before he thrashed me.”

Sakura grimaced. _What a Neanderthal_. Virgin conquests weren’t uncommon. Sakura was revolted with the captain of the basketball team even more so now.

“He socked me in the stomach when I told him you weren’t,” Gaara turned his face away.

Sakura stared at him. “But I am…oh,” Sakura finally got it. _It doesn’t matter what the truth is; only that Sasuke thinks otherwise._

Gaara nodded. Sakura dabbed lower near his hip. Gaara watched her fingers gripping the cotton and pressing it lightly to his skin. He swallowed as the same cotton ball travelled sliding across to another cut on the other side. She was dangerously close to the waistband of his pants. Sakura leaned forward on a hand to drop the dirty cotton ball into the trash. She didn’t lean back though.

Sakura stared at the bandage on his forehead. She fingered the edge of the Band-Aid and pulled it off slowly so as not to cause bleeding again. There was a scab and it looked like it was healing. Luckily it barely missed the tattoo and it wasn’t damaged. Sakura kissed it gently without thought.

Because she lowered her lips to his head her chest was lowered to his face. He debated whether or not he should bury his face in her tempting breasts but before he could come to a general consensus she was pulling away. Now her face was kissing the cut on his collarbone. Then the one on his pec. She kissed the old scars too. Gaara was getting flushed when he realized that she was kissing every single one and was slowly going further down with her kisses.

 **Will she keep going?** The thought alone was a turn on and he could feel himself getting excited. Sakura kissed his stomach and then the spot where his cracked rib was. She scooted back a little and continued south. Gaara was getting extremely turned on now. **Her mouth is so close to my…** Gaara bit his lip when she kissed the bruise on his hip. Sakura peeked up and finally noticed his glowing pink face.

“S-Sorry! I was just…” Sakura tried in vain to explain her actions. “My parents always kissed my scrapes as a kid. They said that kisses made them heal faster…”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard…”

They stared at each other in silence. Sakura made a move to get off him and out of the compromising position. Gaara grabbed her wrist to prevent this.

“There’s still one left…” he informed her, then swallowed. “Finish what you started…”

Sakura looked at the last injury. _He wants me to continue_. She resituated herself back to his legs. Slowly she lowered her face to the cut on his hip, Gaara’s eyes watching intently. Her soft pink lips pressed against his cool skin. Gaara took a deep breath, trying to calm down that ancient urge to respond with bucking his hips. Sakura could feel that he wanted to grind against her and for some reason didn’t mind at all. She pressed her body closer and they both felt each other. Him, hard against her. Her, warm against him.

Gaara had a primal urge to flip them and tear her clothes off. Rip them to shreds with his teeth.  He wanted to touch her entire body and enter it. But Sakura was a virgin; she so plainly pointed out minutes ago. He’d end up hurting her the way he was used to taking girls. Sprawled out on the bed tied to the posts, her pink hair splayed out on his pillow. Her legs spread wide welcoming his…god. The image of taking her was so fresh in his mind and it was increasingly affecting him. It would be like taking advantage of her. Which would put him on Sasuke’s level. **No! I won’t be like him! I won’t hurt her!**

Gaara sat up suddenly and lifted her off him. He tossed her back onto the bed and quickly left his room. _What just happened?_ Sakura heard the bathroom door at the end of the hall close.

The red head leaned over the sink breathing slowly in and out. **Just calm down. She doesn’t know how arousing that is.** Just the act of touching his body without the intent to hurt him was so stimulating. **I’m used to pain in this kind of interaction. I’m used to being hurt but she has no intention of causing me harm. It feels strange but great.** It made him want her in the most carnal way. But there was no way she was ready for that. Ready for the way he liked it.

“Gaara are you okay?” Sakura called through the door. She tried to open it but it was locked. _What is he doing?_

“Just leave me alone. I need a minute to myself,” he finally spoke after a minute **. I just need some time to cool down. To get control over myself again.**

Sakura went back to his bedroom and flopped on the bed. She’d learned thus far that if Gaara didn’t want to talk he wasn’t going to. She settled for waiting until he came out of the bathroom to ask any questions. After grabbing Gaara’s pillow she hugged it to her chest. Sakura breathed in deep the pillow’s scent.

“Ode de Gaara,” she giggled and inhaled it again. _It smells so wonderful, like an autumn breeze._ It brought back the memory of the park.

 _We were pretty close there. Doesn’t he want me to be intimate back? I want to run my fingers through his hair. Taste the cold silver on his lip._ Sakura sprawled out on his bed and looked at the ceiling. _I remember looking at the sky as he touched me_ …She sighed. Sakura had to admit that she wanted to be touched like that again.

***

Gaara rinsed his face with cold water then dried it off with a towel. **Alright. I’m okay. At least I’m calm enough to hold back.** Gaara made his way back to his room and peeked in the door. **She’s lying on my bed, hugging my pillow.** Gaara walked in. Sakura sat up and stared down as if she had been thinking shameful thoughts a minute ago.

“Why did you run off?” she asked.

Gaara wasn’t sure what to say. **How do I tell her it was because every time she touches me I want to pounce her? And not in a friendly way.** **What about those violent sexual thoughts? How on earth can I explain that without scaring the absolute shit out of her?**

“It’s nothing. You wouldn’t understand,” he tried. She wasn’t buying it.

“Tell me. I won’t get angry or anything,” Sakura insisted.

Gaara shook his head. “I can’t.”

“I don’t care Gaara. Just tell me…”

“No!”

Sakura reached out and held Gaara’s hand. He relaxed a little **. She’s the only person I never want to hurt. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.** Sakura saw the fear in his eyes. _He looks so scared_. He finally took a seat next to her on the bed.

“I’m afraid that I’m turning into the people I hate most,” Gaara sighed. **Like there’s a monster inside me.**

“Who?” Sakura leaned against his shoulder and for once Gaara didn’t mind the contact.

“My foster dad…and Uchiha…I’m beginning to think like a monster…” he muttered. Gaara brought a hand to his face and covered the tattoo. **I’ve never been this close to a person before. I’ve never been able to just tell someone my problems. No one really ever cared to listen.**

Sakura watched him touch his tattoo. _He’s afraid of becoming a monster_? Sakura was thinking it may have had something to do with how intimate she’d been with him. _I didn’t even consider his feelings when I started kissing his wounds._

“It’s hard to hold back,” he started, “when you’re so kind to me. I want to hurt everyone who gets close to me.”

“Why? Why do you want to hurt them?” Sakura asked.

“Everyone leaves me or hurts me. I’d rather hurt them first…beat them to the punch. A minute ago I wanted to possess you. In every way…” Gaara looked at her, his countenance very serious.

What he said finally hit her. _Gaara wanted to have sex with me, even if I were unwilling. His immediate response to kindness is to hurt someone. Because he’s used to hurting everyone who gets close; figuratively and literally._ That thought was frightening to Sakura _. Would Gaara have raped me?_ Sakura then remembered that he ran to the bathroom and locked her out. _Never. He’d never._

“What made you stop?” she asked.

“I had this thought. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to be like ‘him’.”

Sakura leaned on his shoulder again. _Gaara wouldn’t have done it. I don’t even doubt it._

“…I’m sorry,” he apologized.

Sakura told him he didn’t have to apologize. She still had his hand and now he was leaning towards her as well. They were using each other for support.

“You didn’t let it happen. You wouldn’t let it happen. You aren’t like him Gaara,” Sakura squeezed his hand. “We’ll work through this. Look at me.”

Gaara did and she planted a kiss on his lips with no hesitation. His eyes were half lidded when he returned the kiss. **She’s not pushing me away. She’s not angry about what I said. How is this possible? How can she be that forgiving?** He buried his face in her neck, comforted by her warmth.

“I won’t abandon you Gaara.”


	9. Learning More Every Day

Chapter 9: Learning more every day

 

“You won’t leave…?” he asked.

“And I won’t hurt you,” Sakura promised. “We’ll just have to take this slow and easy. Together.”

Gaara breathed in that sweet strawberry lemonade. **She still wants to stay even though I warned her how violent I could be. Is anyone that great? That forgiving?** His eyes kept gazing at her shirt and thinking of how much he’d like it to come off. Sakura noticed.

“Staring at it won’t remove it, you know?” Sakura informed him.

Gaara took this as an invitation to take it off if he liked. His hand smoothly ran up her stomach and under her shirt. Sakura lifted her arms above her head and Gaara pulled the shirt off. She had a black bra on; it was slightly lacey around her cleavage. He had to wonder if she wore it with him in mind.

He cupped her breast with his left hand while nuzzling in her neck. Gaara found that he liked nibbling on her pulse. Sakura’s hands were both resting on the back of his neck; she entertained the idea of running her fingers through his hair. It was what she was thinking about only minutes ago. Now it was a possibility. _As long as I don’t get too handsy, too quickly._

Sakura’s fingers entwined with red hair and she was certain she heard Gaara purr in contentment. His lips descended onto hers and heated kisses began. With each kiss Sakura’s grip on his hair tightened, which excited Gaara. The feeling of her clinging to him made his body lessen the distance between them.

Gaara bit gently on her lips and she bit back.  She hardly noticed when his hands made the move to lower her bra straps. It wasn’t until she felt a cold palm on her bare chest did she gasp. _His hands are freezing!_

He started nibbling down her jaw line, making a beeline for better quarry. Her nipples were hard from his toying with them. Sakura melted inside when his warm tongue licked her breasts like they were ice cream. She was desperately trying to hold back moans so Temari wouldn’t hear them in the next room.

“You don’t have to be quiet,” he told her while running his tongue in the cleavage of her breasts. With that comment he gave her a light bite on the nipple and she cried out. Sakura’s hands released themselves from his hair and fell above her head. Her pink hair splayed in every direction.

“But, I don’t want…anyone to hear us…” she said, her face rosy.

“Then I’ll have to try harder,” his voice rumbled as he lifted her skirt to revealing matching panties.

 _He’s going to touch me again!_ Sakura had been warm there since he started sucking on her breasts and tonguing her nipples. With that last bite she wanted nothing more than to offer her body to him. _If he touches me like that I won’t be able to keep quiet. I’ll bet he’s counting on it._

Gaara hooked his finger into her black underwear and slid it down slowly. He wanted her to feel every inch the fabric traveled. It was just as nerve-wracking for him as it was for her. He took them past her ankles and tossed the fabric onto the floor. Gaara’s hand held her thigh and pushed it to the side to allow more access. He then sucked on his finger in full view of her eyes so that she would know what was coming.

“Have you ever touched yourself before Sakura?” Gaara asked as he ran a wet finger against her inner thigh.

“Yes…” she mumbled, slightly embarrassed. She did it in the shower on occasion.

“Really?” he seemed surprised. He reached for her hand and suckled on her finger. “Show me.”

Sakura blinked in disbelief. He wanted to watch her touch herself. She was nervous and unsure. Gaara guided her hand slowly to her center and pressed her finger slowly into her pussy. Out then in; moving the moisture around. Sakura whimpered a little and continued the action he’d guided her to do.

“That’s it…keep going,” he whispered. Gaara watched intently as she fingered herself. Once her fingers were wet with her own juices he removed her fingers and licked them clean. Then he sucked his finger again.  “My turn…”

Sakura braced herself. She figured if she was prepared for it then maybe she could keep from moaning too loud. His finger teased her entrance gently, producing a little whimper from Sakura as she bit her bottom lip to keep quiet. He allowed his finger to enter her but only a shallow penetration. It made her quiver when he pulled out, only to go back in just an inch. It felt good but she wanted more and he wasn’t giving it to her. It was starting to annoy her. Sakura whimpered something but he couldn’t hear her.

“What?” he asked.

“Stop…teasing me!” Sakura demanded, her face flushed.

Gaara entered his finger with such speed and force that Sakura arched her back.

“Ah!”  she sharply gasped. What he would’ve given to hear her scream his name in a fit of ecstasy.

He thrusted quickly in her tight and wet entry.  Gaara toyed with her nipples pinching them lightly to get her muted gasps. Sakura bit back her moans so that they were hushed, which disappointed Gaara. **I would’ve liked to hear her scream in pleasure**. Sakura fisted the sheets at her side. He knew she was approaching her threshold and at this rate he wouldn’t get the scream that he so desired. **She gets there too fast.** **I’ll slow down then…** his finger entered her painstakingly slowly.

Sakura panted quickly now. Her bliss was mounting considerably and so far she managed to keep herself quiet. Suddenly she felt Gaara move her other thigh to the side. She was confused but before she could ask Sakura felt it. Gaara’s hot tongue darted in and lapped up her juices. Sakura’s will gave out.

“God! G-Gaara!” she moaned without checking her volume. _I can’t hold back anymore! I’m going to…_

“Again. Say it again,” Gaara growled as his tongue delved deep as it could, his hands holding her legs tightly keeping them spread.

“Gaara-Ahh!” she screamed as an explosion of unadulterated bliss shot through her body and Sakura fisted the sheets so tight her hands hurt. Her body shook as she was blinded by ecstasy. She’d orgasmed before but by herself; It had never felt this amazing before.

Her body went limp but her labored breathing continued. Sakura couldn’t even manage to lift herself. Gaara climbed over her half dressed body to look down on her extremely flushed face.

“Why? Why did you do that?” she panted.

“What?” he asked feigning ignorance.

“You know what!” she tried to sound angry but the pangs of pleasure still ran through her like aftershocks. Bright colors danced in from of her eyes. Her first orgasm at the hands, er tongue, of someone else _. I never imagined that it would feel so good._

“I wanted to hear you moan my name…” he said seriously.

“Why?”

He shrugged as if he didn’t know but the reality was that it felt good to hear her calling to him. No one had ever said his name in longing before. It excited him to think that she wanted him in the way that no one has. He retrieved her under garment from the floor and handed it to her.

“This isn’t fair…” she pouted while slipping the fabric back on. “I haven’t done anything to you at all…”

 “Maybe later you will. For now, I think it’s best if we take it slow; stick to foreplay for now. At least, until I can control myself better,” he finally spoke when she didn’t. **I could jump her right now. Right now while she’s hot…and wet…** Gaara shivered in longing. **Speaking of trying to control myself.**

Sakura conceded to his statement. _I suppose_.

“By then you’ll have come to a more important decision about us…” he alluded to the eventual sexual encounter he knew would happen. Sakura wasn’t naïve; she knew they would have sex at some point as well. It wasn’t a question of ‘if’, only a question of ‘when’. **And where.** Gaara’s mind had all sorts of scenarios panning through his head.

Gaara wanted her so bad right at that moment. But he wanted her to come to the decision on her own, without him pushing it on her. It would give him time to control his urges around her. He already wanted to take her now, but he knew that she wasn’t ready. More so, Sakura herself knew she wasn’t ready.

“You’re right…I’ll think about it…”

***

At school Sakura had no qualms about where she wanted to sit. She made a beeline for Gaara’s table. The two teens Kin and Zaku were laughing at something until she approached. They looked at her apprehensively, Kin more so than Zaku. Her nose looked a little better but the remnant of a bruise was still there. Temari waved a little but Gaara pretended not to notice her approach.

“What do you want?” asked Zaku.

“I was going to sit over here. Got a problem with that?” she snapped.

Zaku cowered before her. “I guess not…” _Pansy._

“The hell we don’t!” Kin exclaimed while standing, clearly angry. “After what you did, why should we? Why on earth would we let you sit with us? ”

Sakura looked at Gaara and to no one’s surprise he didn’t defend her. _I have no problem fighting this battle on my own._ Sakura took a deep breath and eyed Kin.

“I won’t say I’m sorry, because I’m not. I felt giving you a busted nose was only fitting. And unless you want another one then you’ll let me sit down where I damn well please,” Sakura belted. Gaara smirked but it went unnoticed and disappeared.

Kin clenched her fist but moved aside and sat back down. Sakura took her seat on the other side of Gaara. Temari gave her two thumbs up under the table for her performance. The pink cheerleader nodded her head in thanks and then looked over to see what Gaara was drawing. Another rose but this one entwined around Sakura’s neck, blooming where the first bite mark was. She was naked again. Sakura stopped being surprised at Gaara’s imagination.

“Looks good Gaara,” she commented as she slipped a note into his pocket. He noticed.

Gaara nodded. Kin and Zaku were doing their best to ignore the intruder in their midst. Trying to ignore the fact that she was talking so casually to Gaara. The red headed Goth retrieved the note in his pocket and read it under the table. Its contents were surprisingly short:

Can I hold your hand?

-Sakura <3

Gaara furrowed his brow. **Why would she need to ask that?** He reached down and grasped her hand. Her warm hand was now in his cooler one. She smiled; glad that he approved though his face didn’t show it.

The bell rang and Gaara’s cronies went to class and Temari winked before scurrying off as well. This left her and Gaara to walk to class together. They made their way to their classrooms but had to separate along the way. Reluctantly Sakura let his hand go.

“See you during computer class, right?”

“Yeah, later…” he managed a half-assed smile. He wasn’t used to smiling.

Sakura looked down the hall and saw that no one was coming. She pecked his cheek and skipped to class. Gaara raised a hand to his cheek. **What if someone were watching? Her image would go down the toilet in a day…or less.** Gaara put his hands in his pockets and walked quickly to his class. The thought occurred to him that maybe she didn’t care. **If she doesn’t care…why should I?**

Hidden behind a locker, someone was watching. Her hands gripped the metal edge as she tried desperately to hold in her anger. Failing at it, she punched the locker leaving a tiny dent.

“She took him! How could he like her? She’s nothing like him!” Kin hissed at no one. “That slut…”

***

Sakura wanted desperately to change her seat in computer class. _It’s the only class we have together…_ Anko came around with a new assignment.

“Basically it’s the same as your last assignment but you’ll be doing a biography of your partner. And you get to choose who you work with so here’s the signup sheet. Go for it,” Anko yelled over the ‘hurray’ that resounded from the idea of choosing partners.

Ino grabbed the sheet. “First dibs! Sakura, wanna work together? It’ll be a cinch since we’ve been together forever.”

Sakura eyed Gaara who was busy drawing, oblivious to the conversation across the room. Or so it seemed.

“Uh, no, I’m going to pick someone I don’t know much about. That way I’ll learn something new…” Sakura denied the invitation from her best friend.

“What? How lame! Who wants to learn in school?” Ino questioned.

Ino ended up choosing Hinata. Temari went with Shikamaru, which came to no surprise for anyone on the cheer squad. Sasuke and Kiba teamed up. Sakura knew if she waited to go last then the only name left would be Gaara. Naruto and Chouji got together. Tenten got Lee, making Sakura smile devilishly. Leaving Neji to choose between Shino and Gaara. He chose the former. That left Gaara to Sakura.

 _Yay_! Sakura suppressed the urge to rush him and hug him in victory. She settled for walking over to the seat next to him and plopping down. An insanely happy smile plastered on her face.

“How did I know that you’d pick me?” he smirked.

“Dunno…must be reading my mind!” she giggled. _If he were reading my mind he’d see the image of me straddling him in his chair. Biting on his lip. Cold silver on her tongue._

“I hate this project…” he grumbled staring at the ceiling.

“I want to lick your lip piercing…” she gazed dreamily.

“What?!” Gaara’s eyes got wide as he lurched forward and searched to see if anyone nearby heard her. They didn’t. He got in close to her face and in a hushed voice said, “Are you nuts? What if your cheerleader friends heard you?”

Sakura looked confused. “Huh?”

He realized Sakura didn’t know she’d said something. “You just said you wanted to ‘lick my lip piercing’.”

Sakura turned beat red. “God! I said that out loud?! What about the other part? About straddling?! Did I say anything about stra-”

He clamped a hand over her mouth as her volume was increasing. The two people nearest to them stared at the physical contact. Naruto and Chouji went back to their discussion but Gaara was certain they’d heard something. He removed his hand from her mouth.

“No, you didn’t say anything about…you need a filter between your brain and your mouth,” he concluded. He couldn’t bring himself to mention straddling without putting a thought through his head and an urge through his pants.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered looking defeated _. God…for a virgin I get these sexual thoughts way too much._ “What were you saying about the project…you know before I…yeah…”

Gaara shook his head in disbelief. “I was saying this project is going to blow,” he sighed. **Blow. Now there’s an idea. NO! No, No, No! Absolutely not! Stop thinking about sex!** Gaara now felt that she’d infiltrated his mind and now he would have to think about overweight male ballerina’s to turn himself off.

“Why is it going to blow?” she asked innocently. Gaara’s mind tried desperately to think of Naruto’s foster-dad in a tutu. The image was satisfactory enough to flatline his throbbing pants.

“There’s nothing in my life I want to tell this class about. Nothing that’s any of their business,” Gaara mumbled.

“Hey! I’m sure I can come up with a good one that won’t ruin your rep too much. I can type about your favorite bands, goth fashion and your piercings.” Sakura checked to see if anyone was listening. “I won’t put anything about your home life okay? I’m not that insensitive.”

Gaara said his thanks. **That doesn’t leave much to write about.**

“Just leave it to me! I’ll do a great job, you’ll see,” Sakura grinned.

***

“I’m doomed…” Sakura stated glumly. She scratched down little notes in a mock PowerPoint presentation _. 10 slides. 10 slides about Gaara_. She only managed to plan 3. A title page, music, and piercings. It wasn’t even close to interesting.

Sakura’s mother came in with a sandwich and milk. The conquered cheerleader accepted it with contempt. _I don’t deserve a delicious sandwich and milk if this is all I can accomplish._

“What is with this defeatist attitude? Homework trouble? Or maybe it’s boy trou-” her mother smiled.

“UGH! I can’t make a good presentation about Gaara because he wants me to keep it low key! We have to present it to the class! I don’t want to embarrass him! AGH! I wanna pitch myself off a bridge…”

Sakura’s mother laughed at her melodramatic daughter. Especially at the fact that Sakura interrupted her. She figured maybe she could offer a solution.

“Make it the way you want and just show it to your teacher. Explain the situation to her and I’m sure she’ll understand. Teacher’s are adults and despite children’s beliefs they aren’t heartless.”

Sakura perked up _. Not a bad idea._ She whirled around in the swivel chair twice and jumped out to give her mom a hug. She gave an energetic thank you hug and went right to work.

***

Sakura spent the week in total bliss. She also spent the week taking secret pictures of Gaara. In the art room while he was drawing Sakura snuck out of her class to take a picture from the cracked door. Another of him reading on the curb during practice. After school she took some shots of his artwork. She bargained a picture of him as a child from Temari. _I’m such a creeper._ Sakura had to buy her a new tongue stud to complete the transaction. And lastly she borrowed the one from the tattoo parlor. After scanning it she returned it.

“This is awesome,” she chuckled to herself. When she whirled around the corner after classes were out she came face to face with a familiar nose.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kin sneered.

“What?” Sakura stepped back giving them some space, unsure what the goth girl was talking about.

“I see you with him. Always hanging on him. Holding his hand. You even kissed him on the cheek. You barely even know him,” Kin grumbled. _She was stalking us in the hall the other day. And I thought I was a creeper._

“So? How’s that any of your business?”

“I’ve known him for years, little Miss Priss! He doesn’t like girls like you. Your happy go lucky life doesn’t appeal to him. He likes gothic chicks. Wicked music. Black clothes. You don’t know him at all!”

Sakura stood her ground clutching the camera she was using to take some shots of his work. Gaara liked her, she was sure of that _. We both like Iron Maiden. I don’t wear gothic clothes but I can look good in them. Is she right though? Do I know him at all?_

“Just give up, cheer squealer. Just because you can get the basketball team in your pants doesn’t mean you can get him,” Kin hissed. “So leave him alone…”

Sakura blinked with realization.   _Kin likes him. She’s envious of me._

“Sorry, Kin. Your insults aside, I can’t just go away,” Sakura firmed her stance and put the camera around her neck. Kin stepped back a foot, afraid Sakura might hit her again.

“Why? Why won’t you just leave him be…”Kin’s face screwed up into a grimace. Soon it was streaming with tears. “Why does he like you? I’ve liked him for years but he won’t even give me a chance. I do everything he does…”

Sakura stepped forward with pity in her eyes. _I feel so sorry for her. Gaara doesn’t want someone to be like him. He wants someone to understand and accept him. Not just copy him_. Sakura patted Kin on the shoulder to which she recoiled.

“Don’t touch me. Leave me alone.  Why are you being nice to me?” asked Kin, wiping her face.

“Because I don’t like seeing people cry. You, my friends, Gaara…” Sakura pulled a tissue from her bag and handed it to Kin. She accepted it, but not gratefully.

“Gaara doesn’t cry,” Kin corrected her and blew her nose.

“Sure he does. I don’t see it but I feel it…” Sakura revealed. “When I see his face, I feel like he’d like nothing more than to cry. But he’s built such a big wall that he won’t let anyone see him do it. Not even himself.”

Kin stared at Sakura’s kind gaze. She felt sheepish and guilty for saying so many mean things but that didn’t mean she had to accept this happily. Kin pushed Sakura away and wiped her eyes for the last time.

“I guess I need to work on seeing Gaara the way you see him.”

Sakura smiled. “He could definitely use more friends.”

Kin shook her finger at Sakura. “Don’t think this makes us friends. It just makes us rivals instead of enemies. I won’t give up! See you, Haruno.”

***

Later that day Sakura went to see a movie with Ino and the rest of the cheer squad. She only agreed to it because Ino accused her of abandoning the team all the time and not spending enough time with them. They all went, including the newest addition Temari. They munched through popcorn and slurped through multiple sodas. Sakura had to admit, it was kind of relaxing to be with her old friends again.

“I’m glad you came,” Temari laughed as a person stepped on a banana peel. “That never really happens.”

“Me too,” Sakura snickered as the person slid across the floor into a trash can. “Yeah, really, what are the chances?”

“I would have hated to have to physically force you to come with us…” she chuckled. Sakura laughed too, not thinking anything of it.

When she finally made it home her parents were readying dinner. It was late but soup, sandwiches, and salad were welcome to Sakura’s stomach. Popcorn was making her feel like she was buttered on the inside and thusly very fat.

Gaara actually came up in conversation and it wasn’t Sakura who started it.

“Your friend Gaara, came by today, while you were at the movie,” Sakura’s dad started.

Sakura nearly snorted her soup out of her nose. “What? Why?”

“He came over to ask for some photos. For a project about you…”

Sakura wiped her soup dribbled face with a napkin. The PowerPoint biography. _Sneaky…he got Temari to run interference._

Her parents wouldn’t tell her the particulars. Only that he asked lots of questions and borrowed quite a few photos. Sakura was peeved when they refused to tell her which ones. But they did reveal that at least one was slightly embarrassing.

 _Oh great!_ Her face turned red _. I hope it wasn’t the one where I made that mud pie and ate it…Or the one where I put on fairy wings and went roller skating down the block. What if it’s the one where that dog peed on me?!_ Sakura’s head hit the table with a thump. _I only have one question God…Why?_

Sakura sighed and her parents laughed. _Why do parents insist on tormenting their young?_

***

“Say cheese!” Sakura pulled out the camera and took a shot of the Goth table. She looked at the digital screen and scoffed. “You guys look like you just finished robbing a grave…and were sad to find it empty…”

“Do it again!” Temari laughed and got ready with a smile.

“Yeah, this is my better side anyway,” Kin sneered as she flipped her long hair over her shoulder.

Zaku looked at both girls and just shrugged. He didn’t know what made them so nice to the cheerleader suddenly but decided to just go with it. He adjusted his hair and prepared himself for the shot.

Gaara didn’t look ready to move. Sakura pouted in disappointment. _What a sour puss._

“Surround him! No escape!” Sakura pointed. Temari grabbed an arm and Kin grabbed the other, something Sakura totally noticed. Zaku just crouched down into the shot, afraid to actually touch Gaara. Sakura took another shot and this one looked much better. Gaara was still frowning but it didn’t matter. The point of the picture was Gaara’s friends. _That makes the final slide._

“Thanks, everyone,” she smiled.

“I get a copy right?” Kin glared.

“Me too!” Zaku waved.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll print one for all of you…” Sakura conceded to their demands.

Sakura took her seat next to Gaara. Kin, Zaku, and Temari talked excitedly about some new horror movie coming out. Sakura took this chance to talk to Gaara. He was reading this time. It was a book called Watership Down. Sakura had never heard of it.

“What’s it about?” she asked. Gaara was silent. _He definitely heard me so why…ugh! He’s ignoring me!_ Sakura puffed her cheeks in annoyance. “Are you mad about the photo?”

“What?” he finally looked up. “I was reading. I didn’t hear you…”

Sakura gave the ‘are you kidding me?’ look only to get the ‘what? I’m serious’ look. He looked away as he put the book into his bag. When he was done his eye looked at her and then quickly avoided contact. Like he was afraid to look at her; afraid to give something away.

“You nervous about something?” she grinned. “I know about your little visit…”

Gaara sighed. **She hit the bull’s eye.** “I needed to find out more information. So I asked your parents…”

Sakura laughed. “You could have asked me. I would have told you anything you wanted to know. I would have given you pictures too. You creeper.”

“Says the person who bartered with my sister for a baby picture…” he stared, annoyed.

Sakura froze, she looked almost comical. “H-How did…you know about th-that?”

“You bought the picture from my sister but not her silence,” he revealed.

There was an awkward stillness between them. Both had been caught sneaking information rather than asking for it. Sakura quickly apologized and admitted to taking secret photos for her PowerPoint. She hurriedly told him that she had no intention of presenting it to the class so he didn’t need to worry about that.

“And you called me a creeper…” he sighed.

“I really am sorry. Can you forgive me?” she begged with puppy eyes.

 **How can I stay mad? I’d be a hypocrite.** He gave in. “Yeah whatever.”

The bell rang and it was time to head to class. Sakura fell in line behind Gaara. She was sure he was still angry so she didn’t even attempt to hold his hand. It was time for them to split off into different directions. Sakura attempted to go but Gaara called out to her.

“Let me see your camera for a second,” he ordered.

Sakura handed it over and he turned it on. _Aw man, he’s going to delete the photo from earlier. Or all the ones I’ve taken of him secretly. This bites._ Gaara leaned over and locked lips with her. There was a flash and he pulled away. Gaara looked at the digital screen while Sakura stuttered dumbfounded.

“Looks good,” Gaara concluded as he handed the camera back to her. “Send me a copy.”

She nearly dropped the camera when it was back in her hands and watched him walk away to his class. There were maybe a dozen people in the hallway but none had seen what transpired. Sakura grinned when she realized this meant Gaara wasn’t mad anymore.

“I’m using this in my PowerPoint you know!” she joked loudly at him.

***

Gaara painted carefully. He was finally adding pink to the Sakura portraits. They were to go on display soon after the computer presentation. **If she’s going to use embarrassing photos of me then I’m going to show the ones of her.**

 **I’m a nobody Goth. No one actually cares about my hobbies or likes. She can show whatever she wants about me. They may not even believe half of it.** At least that’s what Gaara hoped.

He wrote a quick note and thrust it into her locker. **Let’s see how this plays out.**

***

Sakura’s eyes skimmed quickly.

Do what you want on the PowerPoint and don’t hold back. I won’t be holding back on you either. 

-Gaara

Sakura blinked at it. _So…this is basically permission to do my PowerPoint?_ Sakura pumped her fists. Y _ES!_


	10. Confession of Love?

Chapter 10: Confession of Love?

 

Sakura received a new note in her locker again. This one though seemed different.

**Meet me in the science lab at 4:00.**

Sakura flipped to the back to see if there was more but it was blank. He didn’t even sign his name. _Why would Gaara ask me to meet him in the science_ _lab?_ Sakura thought that maybe it wasn’t from Gaara at all. _Maybe it’s a trap from Sasuke._ She glared at the note, crumpled it and tossed it.

“That sneaky jerk. Like I’d fall for that,” she frowned.

She made her way to the cafeteria for lunch. Gaara was at his usual table with his group. They seemed to get along better now; Gaara would even participate in conversation with them. It was nice to see him talking with them, even if he hardly smiled. She waved and signaled that she would sit with her cheerleader friends today to which he nodded and Sakura skipped away.

“Beef stew and rice!! MY FAVORITE!” Sakura squealed when she sat down. Ino and Hinata stared amused as she munched on her food.

Shino finally spoke. “Haven’t seen you in a while…”

Sakura laughed and apologized to her friends.

“Thought maybe you found a boyfrie-” Ino started. Sakura’s sudden (and somewhat exaggerated) coughing cut her short.

“Boyfriend? Me? I’m waaaay too busy to have a boyfriend,” Sakura’s forced laughter was hurting her stomach.

“You’re not interested in Sasuke anymore?” Hinata asked. Ino perked up with this new prospect.

“Hell no. I know what kind of a person he is. He put a note in my locker asking me to meet him in the science lab today. Creep-o,” Sakura drank her milk.

 _He knows that I’m with Gaara. Why doesn’t he get it? In fact, why doesn’t he tell the whole school about me and the emo prince? It seems like the sort of shitty thing he would do._ Sakura sighed and continued with her meal.

Ino shook her head. “That doesn’t sound like Sasuke. Plus, he has basketball practice today.”

“Oh,” Sakura realized. _Then was it really Gaara?_ She looked over to his table to find him reading again. He was such a master of being nonchalant that she could never tell if he was ignoring her or not.

Because the subject matter no longer included Sasuke, Ino was no longer interested. After finishing off her food, the blonde cheerleader left to find the aforementioned subject. Shino went to talk with his computer partner about their project, leaving Hinata and Sakura alone.

“Uh, Sakura…” Hinata started.

“Yeah?”

“That note…I saw who left it…” she stared at her feet.

The bell for class rang. Sakura waited for her to continue.

“Who was it?”

“I’m not sure if I should say. I have to go, I’ll be late. See you tomorrow,” Hinata waved and ran off.

Sakura couldn’t believe it. Hinata wouldn’t tell her. _Well, this is easy enough to fix._ Sakura skipped over to see Gaara and catch him before he ran to class. He was shouldering his bag when she approached.

“Hey, Gaara,” she smiled. He nodded at her. “See you after school, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” he nodded.

 _YAY! It was from him. We’re going to do naughty things in the science lab after school!_ Sakura’s thoughts were peppered with images of sitting on the lab desks and lying on the lab tables. Knocking over a few beakers in their enthusiasm. Sakura’s face was flushed for the rest of the day just imagining them causing all sorts of trouble.

*****

Sakura bid goodbye to her teachers as soon as class was over for the day and ran straight to her locker. On the way though she slammed right into Temari.

“Girl, what is in your head?” Temari snapped but then smirked that Sabaku smirk. “Nearly knocked me over with your doofus smile. You alright?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. Just thinking about Gaara…and me…in the science lab later…he left me a note…” she was still dreamy. Temari couldn’t contain that knowing smile.

“Ahhhh, I see, well…then I guess Kankuro will be waiting in the parking lot for a bit. Since we’ll have to wait for you two to finish…” she snickered and Sakura playfully punched her shoulder. She punched back. They stared for a moment like old enemies and then started laughing at their stupidity.

Sakura changed out her books slowly, waiting for time to pass. _Would he be there early? Of course he will. He’s such a stickler for time._ She remembered the first time he came over. She checked her watch. _Still have 10 minutes…_ The halls weren’t clear yet. Sakura decided to run for the bathroom nearest the lab and adjust her makeup.

***

Gaara was gathering his paintings. He placed them next to the teacher’s desk with a note about displaying them in the gallery across town. _**I should clean up my room for when Sakura comes over. Or maybe I should stop by her house instead this time?**_ He thought about doing things with her in her own bed. It was turning him on a bit to think of her splayed on her bed ready for him to take her. He shuddered as the door to the art room suddenly opened.

***

Sakura peeked down the halls. _Everything seems quiet._ She tiptoed to the lab and peeked around. No sign of anyone. Sakura opened the door and walked in quickly closing it behind her. The room was empty it seemed. She walked around and looked under the desks and behind the tables. _Maybe my watch is fast?_ She sat on a desk, facing away from the door. _It's not like it matters. I don’t mind waiting._

Five minutes later the door opened. Sakura turned with a smile on her face only to have it replaced with shock.

“I didn’t think you’d actually…show up…”

***

Temari was pulling Shikamaru into the art room by his collar with less than respectable thoughts going through both their minds.

“No one’s here so we can have the room to oursel-”

“Ahem!” Gaara coughed.

“OH! Heh, didn’t know you’d be here…” Temari chuckled while trying to back themselves out of the room. “Totally thought you’d be in the science lab with you-know-who…”

“Why on earth would I be there?”

“Why? You told her to meet you there. You know, in your note?” Temari had her hands on her hips.

***

Sakura’s eyes were now rested on short blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a strong body frame.

“Naruto? The note was from you?”

“Y-Yeah…” he looked to the side and walked into the room. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Sakura was a little uncomfortable but not worried. Naruto was harmless. While he was a little derpy she still valued him as a friend. If he was going to confess his love the least she could do was listen then turn him down politely. He was within reach when he finally stopped walking.

“What’s up Naruto?”

“I…uh…well…” he spouted nervously. “I have this friend…and he’s in love with this girl…”

_Oh god, not one of those ‘my friend’ stories. Isn’t it always obvious that the friend is yourself?_

“Naruto-” she tried to stop him but he continued.

“The thing is…I don’t care that he’s in love with her…but…” Naruto bit his lip. “I think that she’s in love with him too…which means that she can’t love me…”

Sakura’s heart ached. _Oh._ Seeing Naruto cry was not one of her favorite pastimes. The last time he cried she hit him for being a baby. It was almost exactly the same as the recent scenario with Gaara. He felt he had no friends and no one liked him. After she ‘woke’ him from the delusion he joined the cheer squad the next day. _He became my biggest fan._

“I see them getting closer and closer…and I want to stop it but…” Naruto’s face was covered in tears. Sakura reached out and hugged Naruto close. She hated seeing him like this. He was like her brother and seeing him upset triggered a sympathetic response. He was still sniffling but he whispered, “I just want you to be happy Sakura…”

“I know, Naruto,” Sakura sighed and rubbed his back. _Poor guy. I wish I could say something to make him feel better without breaking his heart into a million pieces._

“Sakura, I love you,” he told her and pressed his lips on hers.

***

Gaara walked quickly to the science lab. _**I’m such an idiot. I didn’t think anything of her comment at lunch. I thought she meant after school at her place or mine. To work on the PowerPoint. Not in the school.**_ Gaara was a little worried he may not make it in time. _**If its Sasuke**_ …he quickened his pace, worried for her.

When he whirled around the corner he saw someone waiting outside the lab door. _**Her name escapes me but I think she’s one of Sakura’s friends.**_ Her white eyes looked up at him in panic. She placed a finger in front of her lips, begging him to be quiet. It looked like she was eavesdropping. Then there was no way Sasuke was inside; he doubted her friend would just stand there if the basketball captain where smacking her around.

He got closer and down on one knee to listen in as well. He peeked in to see Sakura embracing Naruto. Something inside Gaara’s chest twinged. _**It hurts**_. He could hear Naruto speaking.

“I just want you to be happy, Sakura,” Naruto hiccupped. Gaara saw that Naruto’s arms were wrapped around Sakura’s waist. The dark haired girl across from Gaara was starting to cry with her hands covering her mouth.

“I know, Naruto,” she sighed.

“Sakura, I love you.” Gaara watched as Naruto leaned forward and kissed her.

Pain coursed through Gaara’s entire body, radiating from his chest; it was different from any injury he ever received before. _**Why? Why does my chest hurt?**_ Gaara grit his teeth and quickly raised himself from the floor, clutching his chest. _**I feel like I can’t breathe**_. He quickly walked to the nearest bathroom and hung his head over the sink, taking deep breaths trying to steady himself and get air back into his body. 

Drip. Drip.

“My forehead…bleeding again…” Gaara looked up to see that he wasn’t bleeding at all. There were tears trickling down his cheeks.

_**Tears? Why am I crying? Because another guy kissed her? It’s only a kiss. It shouldn’t hurt this bad.** _

He grabbed at where the pain in his chest was and sunk to the floor his face in his other hand.

_**It shouldn’t hurt this bad…** _

***

Sakura didn’t see the kiss coming. When she felt his lips on hers she was stunned. She could feel that his kiss was loving and that he really cared for her. He held her gently as if afraid he might break her. His lips were soft and he didn’t even attempt to use his tongue but…Sakura wanted to be held tight, tongues dominating in a passionate frenzy. _Not Gaara!_ All this thought occurred in an instant and Sakura pushed him off; his arms still outstretched to hold her.

“Naruto, I’m sorry, but I love someone else…”

“I…I know…I thought…If I didn’t try I’d never know…” he whispered as he lowered his arms. “I’m sorry, Sakura…”

“It’s okay, Naruto. Just never do that again,” Sakura tried to smile. “I’m sure that there’s another girl for you somewhere else.”

A shadow ran by the door.

Naruto ran to the door in time to see dark hair run around a corner and out of sight. Sakura asked who it was and Naruto shrugged. He said it looked like a girl. He turned to Sakura and apologized again, feeling a bit sheepish. He wiped his eyes and dashed down the hall. Sakura smiled. _I hope he finds someone else to confess to._

“What’s this?” Sakura spotted something on the floor. She leaned down and picked it up. “Looks like…an eraser? Looks expensive…”

She flipped it over to find a name on it. Sabaku Gaara. _Gaara! How much did he see?_ If he’d seen everything he would have stayed. _Gaara must have seen just enough to get the wrong idea._ She ran down the hall and looked around the corner. Nowhere in sight. _Where did he go?_

“GAARA! Are you there?!”

***

Gaara washed his face removing his eyeliner in the process. _ **Why? Was it the kiss? No that couldn’t be it…Maybe it was because he said ‘I love you’. I’ve never told her that. I’ve never told anyone that. She’s never said it to me either but…did she say it back to Naruto?**_ The thought alone caused him pain and overwhelming grief. If he’d stayed longer he could have found out. He wasn’t sure he would have been able to stomach it though.

“GAARA! Are you there?!”

The red head Goth looked at the door to the bathroom. _**She’s on the other side. What do I do?** _ Gaara had never felt panic like this in a long time. Not since his first month living with his most recent foster dad. He hated to admit it but he was scared. _**What if she finds me and says she doesn’t want me anymore? Naruto was so honest with her…I’m just not able to do the same.**_ He leaned against the door and slid down, effectively becoming a door stop.

Sakura heard a thunk behind the bathroom door. _Is it Gaara? Why didn’t he answer? Ah shit, is he mad again?_  She sat against the door too. Sakura listened carefully outside but couldn’t hear anything within. She had a feeling though that Gaara was there waiting behind the door.

“I wish I could find Gaara,” she said out loud. “I told Naruto that Gaara was the only one I wanted to kiss…”

It seemed like there was no response. _Guess he’s not in there…_  When she stood up and brushed off the seat of her skirt the door opened and arms enveloped her shoulders. She felt his thin body against hers; his head nestled against her neck.

“I saw,” he whispered. He then ordered, “Don’t ever do that again.”

“Promise I won’t let anyone kiss me again, except you okay?” Sakura promised. He shook his head.

“Not that,” he said. “Don’t ever make me cry like that again…”

Sakura furrowed her brow in worry. _I didn’t know that he was sad about it. I just thought he was angry_. She tried to turn to look at his face but he held her tight so that she wasn’t able to. _**I don’t want her to see me like this but I don't want her to leave either.**_

“Sakura,” he whispered. “I really care about you…but I can’t say that I love you yet…not like Naruto can…”

“I know. That’s okay,” she said.

His grip relaxed enough for her to free herself and turn around. His head down and his flaming red bangs in his face. He was purposefully trying to hide his face from her. Sakura reached up to push his bangs to the side but he moved his head away. She tried again and just as she touched his hair he tensed up. She hesitated, but brushed his hair aside anyway. Gaara’s eyes were pinched shut but there was no mistaking the puffiness around his eyes. It was as if he were expecting to get hit.

“You know, it’s okay to cry,” Sakura forced a smile. “I’m not going to deck you for crying…”

Gaara opened his eyes but looked away. “I…I know that. It’s just…a reflex I guess.”

“Come on. We need to reapply your eyeliner before you run into your family. You look too normal,” Sakura shoved him into the bathroom.

Sakura took a seat on the counter to watch while Gaara applied his makeup. The whole scenario made her want to snicker. The roles are usually reversed in a normal relationship; the girl fixing her makeup while the boy watched. Sakura got the feeling he was anxious and not because she was watching him so intently.

“You worried?” she asked.

“What makes you think I’m worried?” he asked, dodging her question. She hit the nail on the head.

“Dunno…just a feeling.”

Gaara was a little troubled. He was thinking about how Naruto kissed her. Gaara wondered if he was a better kisser than him. It bothered Gaara that Naruto kissed Sakura and he didn’t know what her exact reaction was. He left too soon. Was his kiss enjoyable? Better than his own? Did she like it at all?

“If I were worried…” he started.

“I knew it!” she beamed.

He pouted and glared. She apologized but didn’t stop smiling. Gaara put his eyeliner away and stood in front of Sakura while she maintained her elevated seat. He put his hands on opposing sides of the counter she sat on with her legs in the middle, as if to cut off an escape.

“What was Naruto’s kiss like?” he asked.

“Huh?” she looked dumbfounded then laughed. “You could go kiss him yourself,” she giggled.

“That’s not what I meant!!” he growled, his face showing tinges of pink. “I’m serious Sakura.”

Sakura lost the look of playfulness when she realized that this was really bothering him.

“I want to know,” he told her.

“Everything?” she asked. He nodded.

She grabbed his hands and pulled him closer. Sakura placed them gently around her waist.

“His hands were barely holding me. It was like he was afraid to hold me tight. He smelled like ramen noodles and gym sweat,” Sakura started off. “I prefer this…”

Sakura’s hands grabbed at Gaara’s hips and pulled him close between her legs. His reaction instantly (other than getting hard) was to grip her tighter with his arms, lessening the distance even more. Her eyes were smoky with what Gaara guessed was longing. _**Was** ** _this_ a mistake?**_

“His lips were soft; there was no cold touch of silver. His kiss weak, he didn’t even think about using his tongue,” she whispered lightly against his lips, giving the bottom one a gentle lick on the silver ring.

 _ **She’s…extremely enticing right now.**_ He resisted the urge to silence her by invading her mouth with his tongue.

“When I pushed him, he let me go without a fight,” she sighed.

When she tried to push him away Gaara wouldn’t let her. He hooked one arm around her lower back and the other braced the base of her neck. He kissed her deep, his tongue tasting her own. She moaned in the middle of their kiss when he pulled her tight, brushing her chest against his own.

“Like I would let that happen. Not without a fight…” Gaara whispered against her neck when he broke their kiss. She gripped his shoulders firmly.

He bit into her neck and Sakura moaned. Her fingers tightening their hold on his shoulders and her legs tightened around his hips. One of his hands stayed on her neck while he bit her, the other crawled under her shirt. His cold fingers made their way up and under her bra. He then massaged her breast gently warming up his fingertips.

Sakura bucked her hips against him. He was hard and she could feel it. Her legs crisscrossed like a trap so that he couldn’t back out. His only option was to press forward. He did so willingly. Gaara let go of her neck and grabbed a hold of her ass and squeezed tight as he pushed against her. _**Yes, this is a terrible...wonderful...mistake.**_

“Ah…Mmm…” Sakura moaned complacently.

“God…” he whispered as his hardness pressed against her. _**She’s so warm. What I’d give to do it right now…**_ the image of entering her now was driving him over. _**I need to stop. Or I’ll force her…control yourself. Control.**_

“Gaara, this is great,” she sighed against his ear. He shuddered at her sighing his name again. _**I want her to say it while I’m inside her…that would be amazing.**_

 _ **"**_ Sakura," he bit at her neck again, licking the tender skin.

"We could do it here," Sakura suggested and pulled his hips, pressing them against her warm panties. "I'm wearing a skirt; we wouldn't even have to take off our clothes."

Her suggestions were riling him up. Yes, he could just move her panties aside and fuck her right on the counter. She certainly was wet enough. And he was certainly horny enough to ignore all the logic in his head that said it was a terrible idea...But that bathroom was disgusting. But she said they could... _ **No! I’ve got to stop! Not here!**_ But her rubbing against him was pushing him past the point of no return with his boner. He needed to take care of it before he ruined his pants.

“S-Sakura! S-Stop! I need to…” he panted heavily.

Her legs let go of him and he ran to a cubicle. The second inside he dropped his pants and grabbed himself. _ **I can’t take it…I need to…**_ He could just take care of it himself real quick. Suddenly, he felt warmth behind him. He didn't close the stall door behind him. One of Sakura’s arms snaked around and under his shirt while the other joined his hand on his cock.

“What are…you doing?” he panted.

“I want to help you…”she said earnestly. “Show me how…”

He thought about telling her no. That it was a bad idea. But she looked so eager to please him. He didn't want that look on her face to change to disappointment.

Gaara relented with a sigh and wrapped her hand around him, then encouraged her to begin stroking him. Gaara’s body shivered at the touch of her warm hands. _**I’ve never had someone…do this for me…before.**_ His hands were braced against the cubicle walls. He closed his eyes and tried not to think too much. _ **I hope I don’t turn around and change my mind about going after her.**_

Sakura saw he’d been thinking about it again. That fearful look he got in his eyes. It was the only reason she forced her legs to release him. Sakura would be lying if she said she wasn’t thinking about it as well. And now she wanted to orgasm with him. Would he go for it?

“Gaara, touch me…” she moaned. “Touch me like before…”

Gaara wasn’t sure if he should. Not when he was so close. If he was to touch her warm wet entry he’d know what he was missing. What his cock would be missing. He’d want to be inside her. He refused to give in, that was, until she whimpered a please. That begging needy whine. She was just as horny as he was. His resistance caved as one of his arms twisted behind him and touched under her skirt. With quick finesse he pushed aside her panties and began fingering her wet entrance. _ **She’s wet…and hot…and ahh…god…**_

“Faster,” he whispered. She complied as his fingers worked their magic on her as well. She bit back her pleasure. Gaara was so close it was painful to hold back. But he wanted to hear it again. Her voice.

“I’m…Mmm…!” she moaned loudly into his back. The sound of her orgasmic squeal did it.

“Ah! S-Sakura!” he groaned as he erupted unable to contain himself any longer.

His fluids landed exactly in the toilet. Both parties panted heavily trying to calm themselves down. Gaara’s fingers were still entwined in Sakura’s folds and Sakura could feel the dripping of Gaara’s expended sperm on her knuckles, warm and sticky.

Gaara removed his fingers first, eliciting a sharp sensual whimper from Sakura. She let go of him as well.

“I…can’t believe…you did that…” Gaara finally spoke as he buttoned his pants back up.

“I can’t believe you let me…” she quipped back. Sakura eyed her knuckles where the ejaculate dripped.

Gaara turned around slowly. “I can’t believe I let you either- what are you doing?!”

Gaara found Sakura with her tongue out about to lick it off her hand. She put her tongue back into her mouth quickly. She looked both ways trying to avoid his bewildered stare, embarrassed at getting caught.

“N-Nothing!”

“You were going to-”

“No, I wasn’t!” she lied.

Gaara eyed her suspiciously. Sakura cracked under the pressure.

“If I was going to-”

“AH! I knew it!” he mocked her from earlier.

“It would only be because I was curious! I can’t get pregnant from tasting it! That much even I know…” she pouted and looked away.

He noticed that she had yet to go wash it off. It looked like she had no intention of doing so. Gaara swallowed. _**Will she really…lick that off her hand? The repercussions of if she liked it.**_ Gaara’s mind went immediately to a blowjob with a very happy ending. While he was in the middle of fantasizing she’d brought it to her mouth again and licked it.

Gaara’s eyes went to the size of dinner plates. _ **She did it.** _ He waited for the verdict. Sakura pursed her lips and licked the inside of her cheek.

“Kinda salty…I never would have guessed,” she laughed. “You’re such a sweet person I’d have thought otherwise.”

“Very funny,” he stared, his emotionless face not reflecting the madness within him. _**She didn’t say it tasted bad. She didn't say it was bad.**_ It gave him some hope for their future interactions.

“Come on, let’s get out of here before someone thinks were being naughty,” she devilishly smirked.

 _ **Too late.**_ Gaara clenched his mouth into a grimace thinking about explaining his lateness to Temari and Kankuro.


	11. Roles Reversed

**TRIGGER WARNING: Some slight Non-con and attempted (unsuccessful) sexual assault. Things get a little rapey here due to some unresolved mental issues of Gaara's.  
  
Just to clarify: I in no way advocate rape. But I do advocate that people with sadistic tendencies (that might lead to rape) ** **receive medical help in the form of therapy, medications, etc. I promise you, his actions will be addressed later everyone so don't lose it in your COMMENTS.**

**If you cannot handle the idea of your favorite characters being RAPEY then please: DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER. I BEG YOU TO FIND SOMETHING CUTER TO READ. Shit gets dark around here real fast.**

 

Chapter 11: Roles reversed

 

Gaara’s brain was going on the fritz. His dreams the past couple of nights were a ball gag away from being BDSM. Since the night after their almost-romp in the school bathroom, Gaara had been plagued with these dreams. What could have happened (and didn’t) was bothering Gaara more. He’d wake up in a sweat with his soldier at full attention. It was driving him up the wall, so much so that he no longer needed eyeliner to make his eyes look dark.

That Saturday when he got up late for breakfast he munched on cereal while his siblings stared. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Trouble sleeping?” asked Kankuro. Gaara actually nodded in response, which was unusual.

“Maybe you should stop sexing up pink haired cheerleaders,” Temari joked.

“Maybe I should…but she’s way too hard to resist…” he mumbled as another mouthful of cheerios was gobbled.

Both Sabaku siblings stared in amazement. He just admitted to sexing up Haruno Sakura. And he didn’t even care that he admitted to it. Gaara really was out of it. So much so that he was talking about his problems with his family.

“What’s the problem? You two seem to be a hot secret couple…” Temari looked concerned.

“God, I had this dream last night…she was wearing a spiked collar…and nothing else…” When Gaara realized what he said, he grabbed his face in shame. _**Oh God what have I done?**_

“Wow. Um…Don’t know what to say to that…” Temari grinned while clenching her teeth. Kankuro went back to his newspaper with a cough, trying desperately not to laugh.

“I need sleep…” Gaara groaned into his palms.

“Yes, you do…” Temari chuckled as she handed him a bottle of Nyquil. “Just take the recommended dose and sleep today off okay?”

Gaara nodded his head as he took the bottle. He then shuffled back to his room. He didn’t even slam the door behind him. He gulped a mouthful of the stuff and waited for sweet sleep oblivion to overtake him. _**I need my sleep…wonder if Sakura will be there?**_

***

Around noon Sakura was eating a turkey and Swiss sandwich. Along with some sliced pears and sunchips. In mid-munch her cell rang. She pulled it out and flipped it open.

“Herro?” she munched into the phone.

“Sakura is that you?” Temari asked.

“Yeah, jush eading ah samich,” she swallowed the turkey and Swiss goodness.

“Wow, so glad Gaara didn’t have to hear that. That was the most unattractive speaking voice ever. You sounded like a fat kid eating cake…a really fat kid...and a lot of cake,” Temari elaborated. Sakura put down her food for a moment.

“Sorry, what’s up?” Sakura asked.

“Well, I know he probably doesn’t want you to know but…Gaara hasn’t been sleeping very well.”

“Weird…I’ve been sleeping fine,” Sakura laughed.

 _I lie. I haven’t been able to sleep in days. All I can think about is Gaara and tasting his hard…_ Sakura shook her head. _Not to mention that hardness pressed against my wet…_ Sakura smacked herself. _STOP! You virgin nympho!_

“Do me a favor and come over. Talk to him, or calm him, or something.”

“What am I the Goth Whisperer?” Sakura quipped. Temari begged and Sakura gave in. “Fine.”

She drove over in her truck. It almost refused to start but she made it in no time. Sakura parked and looked up to Gaara’s floor. _He hasn’t been able to sleep either, huh?_ She blushed. _At least he’s thinking about it as much as I am…_

There was a knock at the door and Temari quickly answered.

“Thank god. He was out of it this morning. He’s been quiet since he took the Nyquil but…” Temari glanced at the door as if wary of going in.

“I’ll talk to him,” Sakura patted her on the shoulder.

“Thanks. I’m going out. That Nyquil might be expired, so I’m going to buy more,” Temari grabbed her purse and left.

Sakura was alone in the house. She took her shoes off and tip toed to Gaara’s bedroom.  She peeked inside to find him sprawled on the bed. Unfortunately, he was wearing clothes. Sakura picked up what she believed to be the bottle of Nyquil. She read the sticker label.

“But…this isn’t Nyquil. It’s just cough syrup,” Sakura laughed. Her laughter died down when she noticed that it was empty. _Can you die from drinking a whole bottle of cough syrup?_

She looked over and he seemed to be breathing. Not dead. She let out a sigh of relief. She crawled onto the bed and noticed his face was a little pink. _He looks like he’s…_

“Drunk?” Sakura quirked a brow. “Is there alcohol in cough syrup?”

She checked the label. _Yup. Totally alcohol in that. Never been sick enough to even need Robitussin._  Sakura crawled back up on the bed and lay down next to him. His face was warm, the warmest she’d ever felt it.

“Gaara,” she called to him.

“Yeah?” he answered back, scaring Sakura right out of the bed and onto the floor.

“GOD! You were awake?!” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Is this real?” he asked. “The sound feels nice on my face…heh heh…”

“What?” Sakura laughed. Gaara was really drunk or really… “Are you high?”

Gaara chuckled more and rolled over so that he was facing the wall. Sakura managed to shimmy herself between him and the wall. She had never seen a smile on his face before. _He looks…kinda cute._

“Gaara, are you drunk or high?” she asked. “That way I know how worried to be.”

“Ducks don’t get high. Or can’t they? They don’t look like mushrooms…so they must not fly too high…”

 _WOW. He’s really out there._ Sakura didn’t know whether to laugh or laugh. She could ask him anything and he’d twist it into something weird. The evil in her begged to say silly things.

“I just saw a quesadilla run into the subway to catch a train,” Sakura whispered to him.

“Quesadilla’s can’t catch trains…Their arms are too…short…” Gaara yawned and rolled back onto his back. Sakura snorted at the hilarity. _This is just way too much. I need to try and wake him. I’m way too nice to let this happen._

“Okay, Gaara time to get up,” she laughed. She shook his shoulders a little.

“Need to sleep. I keep dreaming about pink hair…”

“What about pink hair?” Sakura asked.

“So pretty…heh heh…Sa-Ku-Ra…want to do things…to her.”

Hearing him say this out loud made Sakura very interested in waking him up. If he only knew that she felt the exact same way. Can someone who’s high get turned on? Her morals told her not to attempt it but she couldn’t resist the possibility

“Gaara,” she whispered into his ear. “You want to do things to me?”

“Yes…”

“Then you’ll have to get out of bed and meet me in your shower. Just walk right in.”

“Okay…”

***

Gaara opened his eyes and sat up suddenly. His room swayed before him. _ **I just had the strangest dream. Flying mushroom ducks and subways full of quesadillas. But after that.**_ Gaara heard the water running in the bathroom. _**I** **thought I heard Sakura. I think I’m still high from the Robitussin.**_ A rabbit walked on the ceiling. _**Yes…still high.**_

He checked his bed. It didn’t look like anyone had been there. But the shower…The shower water was running. _ **Maybe I’m hearing things. I’m still high.**_ He stood up with a little trouble but used the wall to guide himself down the hall. Everything was wavy even the pictures in their frames. He saw that the bathroom door was closed.

“It couldn’t be.”

Gaara looked at the front door and saw that his siblings’ shoes were gone. There was a lone pair of running shoes. Did his sister have running shoes? Maybe. But weren't they green? These ones were read. He wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating or not. _**I’ve had Sakura on the brain for days. Maybe I’m still tripping. But…**_ he looked at the door. _**It wouldn’t hurt to check…**_ The handle of the door made a face at him before his hand gripped it and twisted it. Gaara took a step inside.

The bathroom was foggy and it looked like flower petals were falling from the ceiling. _**Great, as if my vision wasn’t swimming enough**_. He could clearly see a shadow behind the curtain. The proportions looked like Sakura. Without any hesitation he opened the curtain to reveal Sakura standing there.

Both just stared at each other. Sakura suddenly felt shy and turned her back to him to hide her nudity.

“Hey, Gaara.”

“Are you…real? Cause I’m pretty high…and I’m still hallucinating…” he muttered, staring at her well sculpted ass.

“Come in the shower. It’ll clear your head.”

 _ **If this is a hallucination I don’t want it to stop.**_ He pulled off his t-shirt and tossed it. Then his pants soon joined them along with his boxers. _**This is like one of my dreams…but without restraints.** _ Gaara stepped into the shower and hesitantly reached out to touch her shoulder.

Sakura turned in the shower and she kissed him. He tasted her tongue. It tasted like pears, sweet and tart. He held her shoulders tight and his tongue dove into her mouth. _**She’s naked and right in front of me.**_ He could feel himself getting hard just thinking about her body against his.

Sakura’s arms felt his pale body. He was fully naked in front her now. She could feel his scars under her fingertips. She got a little closer and now felt his erection against her. He could feel it too and suddenly he shuddered as if cold. _**God…why did she do this? Get naked with me…in my shower…**_ The air was hot but her nipples were hard. It was like they were begging him to suck them.

Gaara grabbed a breast and licked it. He found that he wanted more. He engulfed that nipple and tongued it before he bit it.

“AH! Not too rough, you!” she protested. But the biting excited her. “Do it again, but gentler this time.”

He grabbed the other and sucked hard on it.  He tongued her nipple excruciatingly slow this time. He bit again but followed her orders. It made her gasp with pleasure. It was the only time he’d felt like being compliant instead of growling orders. _ **It must be my high…**_ He alternated between tonguing and biting for minutes. That was until Sakura had found something to do with her hands.

She reached out and grabbed onto his erection. She began to stroke slowly. He groaned in longing. Gaara pinned her to the wall. ** _I could do it. Right now. No one’s home. And I know she couldn’t stop me. It’s just a dream. A hallucination._ ** His face was still flushed, from the high or their interaction she couldn’t tell.

“Don’t…” he panted. _**Control. Control.**_ “I’ll end up…hurting you…”

“No you won’t…”

“I will. I’ll pin you here and I won’t even care if you scream…I know I will. So please…” he begged. Sakura didn’t believe him but it didn’t matter. Gaara was already getting out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and ran for the door.

Sakura stood there in the shower and hugged herself. _Why? It’s like I can’t do anything right!_

Gaara ran to his room and closed the door. He toweled off and put some new boxers on. _ **I need to calm down. Dream about something else.**_ He swayed and fell onto the bed with a face plant. _ **I’m so pathetic, even in a dream I want to ravage her. And even though it's not real it still feels wrong.**_

***

Sakura changed back into her skirt and buttoned her blouse. _I wish there was a way of keeping him from freaking out on me. You know, chain him down or something…_ Sakura blinked. _What an idea!_ Sakura grabbed the chains off his pants and scurried off to his room.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Gaara woke to knocking. _**What was I just doing? I don’t remember.**_ He rolled over and sat up. _**Sexy dream in a shower…rabbits on ceilings and grinning door knobs.**_ The room turned purple and Gaara felt it safe to assume he was still a bit high.

Sakura rushed in, fully clothed. He wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

“Gaara. I found a way for us to have a good time and you wouldn’t have to worry about losing it!” she smiled.

Gaara quirked a brow. “Are you real? I had a dream about you a minute ago but you had no clothes on…”

Sakura pounced onto the bed. “Look, I tie your wrists like this,” she proceeded to do so, “and then tie them to the bedposts. What do you think?”

“I think this is a dream because Sakura would never do something so kinky…No matter how much it turns me on,” Gaara mused out loud. _**What the hell, it’s just a dream. Speak your mind.**_

“Really?” she whispered into his ear and licked the earrings near it.

Something was happening to the room. The room was no longer purple and the rabbit that was eating biscuits on the ceiling was no longer laughing at him, in fact he’d disappeared all together. _ **I’m coming down from my high.**_ Things were starting to take their natural shape and stop waving about. Except Sakura didn’t disappear.

“Wait…you are real!” Gaara suddenly realized. He tugged at his restraints.

Sakura smiled playfully. “You’re done being high?”

“Wait, wait,wait. Don’t do anything to me while I’m like this. I’m serious Sakura. Don’t!” Gaara looked mildly panicked. _ **I can’t stop her from doing anything and I’m not sure I trust her that much.**_

“Why not?” she pouted and ran a finger up and down his chest. It sent a tingle up his spine. “You said this kind of thing turned you on.”

Gaara blanched. _**Did I? But I meant it for the other way around…Her in chains and me in control…This way is set up so that she could ride me and I couldn’t stop it…not that I’d want to…NO! Stop liking this!**_

“Are you worried that I’ll take advantage of you? Hurt you?” she laughed at the reverse scenario. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Gaara relaxed a little. _**Good.**_

“But I would like to tease you some…” Sakura licked the tip of her finger and trailed it down his chest.

Gaara couldn’t hide the look awe and intense interest on his face as he watched her put her finger in her mouth again. Slowly in and out. She trailed it down his stomach this time and stopped at the edge of his boxers. He felt the boxers tighten a little. He bit his lip watching her do it again. Sakura purposefully sucked on the finger nice and slow giving him plenty of phallic symbolism. _**What I’d give to be that finger.**_

“S-Stop…” He weakly protested as he pulled at the chains. Her hand slowly crawled down his body and rubbed gently on the outside of his boxers. _ **Oh no…**_ He rocked into her hand wanting more than that light touch.

Sakura leaned over and kissed him with plenty of tongue and just when he was getting deeper into the kiss she pulled away. He tried to tilt his head forward to catch her lips but she was just barely out of reach. He slumped back down and she returned to kissing him slowly. Again when he just got his tongue inside she pulled away.

“Would you cut that out?” he growled. _**I want to taste her. I hate not being in control.**_

“Why?” she asked.

“You know why…” he mumbled.

“Tell me, why?” she asked again as her hand cradled his throbbing member. He groaned in pleasure but she pulled away again.

“Because I want more…” he answered. _**Feeling like a puppet but I don’t care. I just want her so bad.**_ He pulled at his restraints but they wouldn’t budge.

Sakura straddled his body and looked down on him. He looked concerned as she bent down and kissed him. He was grateful that she didn’t pull away after 10 seconds. Their tongues swirled and Gaara bit at her lip. He wanted to be released so he could grab her.

She broke from their kiss and he looked perturbed by this action. One of her hands gripped his hair and pulled to expose his neck to her. She bent down and licked his neck; he allowed a shallow breath to escape his throat. He swallowed when she lingered there, breathing on his throat like a vampire.

“Do you remember? When you pulled my hair and then bit down on my neck,” she asked.

“Y-yes…Ah!” he cried out as she bit down. _**God that’s stimulating.**_ She sucked on his pulse and he was shaking holding back. _ **I didn’t know she could be so forceful. Maybe switching up every once in awhile isn’t such a bad idea.**_

She sat up and began to unbutton her top. Her bra was mysteriously missing. _**More like intentionally missing**_. She lowered her breasts to his face and he took one in his mouth. She started to pull away but he leaned up to get one more nibble in before he wasn’t able to reach again.

“Give them back…”

“You didn’t say 'please' so…no,” she snickered.

She kissed his body gently starting at the collar bone.  Most of his lighter bruises from Sasuke were gone but a few darker ones had yet to heal. She kissed them and licked them, slowly scooting down as she went. He could feel her warmth as it traveled over his erection. He bucked in an attempt to regain a little control over her and it worked. Feeling pressure of his cock against her made Sakura gasp. _Sneaky_. She scooted down so that he couldn’t try that again and rested on his legs.

“Now for the best part,” she said. Sakura’s fingers traveled the edge of his boxers. He knew what she was about to do. She brought the garment down an inch.

“Wait…” he begged but it descended into a sigh when she kissed his bare hip.  

Another inch traveled down. Another kiss even lower. Gaara bit his lip as it was finally lowered to his thighs and his full manhood exposed. His fists were clenched as he readied himself. She ran a finger up and down his length mesmerized by him. He quivered in anticipation. Gaara watched as Sakura licked her finger and then ran its sticky warmth up and down his cock. _ **I can’t take this anymore! This isn’t teasing…It’s torture.**_

“Stop…teasing me…release me,” he managed to weakly command but it sounded forced, as if he didn't want things to stop. He only wanted the torturous parts to stop.

“I didn’t hear a ‘please’,” she said. _**Yeah right, like I’ll say that.**_ She breathed her warm breath on the tip of his erection. _ **God…help me.**_

“P-please…stop teasing me,” he relented.  Sakura smiled and said okay. Gaara was finally relieved that she was going to stop. Except she didn’t.

She grabbed a hold of him and began licking his tip. Nothing could stop that moan from coming out of Gaara. Loud and unchecked. She began stroking and licking. He wanted desperately to be free. Gaara could feel the sticky heat of her saliva and wanted more. He wanted to bury his manhood deep inside her. Just then her mouth took him. Deeper and deeper.

“God! Don’t…” he groaned trying hard not to thrust into her mouth. “Don’t stop…”

She released his cock and stroked. “I didn’t hear…”

“Please…don’t stop…” he panted.

Gaara moaned again when she continued sucking on him and tonguing his tip. If he had fingernails that were long enough they’d be digging into his palm. _**God she so…warm…and wet.**_ If he closed his eyes it wasn’t her mouth he was picturing. He saw her riding him hard holding her breasts as she bounced. It was too much to imagine. He couldn't contain it much longer. _**Warn her you idiot!**_

“Sakura! I’m going to come… stop…or you’ll- Oh! Mmm ah!” he groaned as his body shook. Sakura didn’t move and in fact pressed his dick deeper into her mouth. All his fluids were deposited in there which made Gaara shiver. **_She…didn’t move…even when I warned her…_** He wanted her even more now. If she let him go she’d find out how much.

“Not nearly as bad as I thought,” she smiled after gulping. _Still pretty salty. Feel like I swallowed an oyster._ She pulled his boxers back up to cover him a little and buttoned her blouse back up.

“Sakura…please…” he tilted his head at the chains on his hands.

“Oh yeah…sure!” Sakura undid the bindings and immediately she was under him and being pinned.

Gaara kissed her and his tongue tasted his own salty fluids. Something about that was an extreme turn on. He kissed her harder and harder to the point when he bit her Gaara drew a little blood. She didn’t seem to care because she continued the heated kisses anyway. Now there was a taste of blood and Gaara felt an animal takeover.

“Sakura…want to do it…right here…right now…?” he whispered in her ear. _**I can’t control this urge. She was ready to do it in the shower.**_

“But you just…orgasmed…” Sakura protested. _He’s not serious is he?_

“I’ll be ready again in a few minutes. I want you right now…I don’t think I can stop myself…” Gaara pulled at her skirt. Sakura was beginning to panic.

“Wait! Gaara! You said you wanted to wait for my answer! I’m not ready yet!” she tried to fight him but he was too strong, his arms rigid with strength. Her skirt was tossed in seconds. “Don’t! Don’t do this! I’m sorry I tied you up!”

He used the chains to hold her. _**I can’t wait anymore. I need her now…she wanted it earlier.**_ Her wrists were confined and now he was unbuttoning her blouse. She tried to squirm free but his body had her pinned. _No! I’m not ready! I’m not!_

“I want you…Sakura…” He sucked on her breasts while his hands lowered her underwear.

“Stop…” she whimpered and began to cry. “Please don’t…I’m sorry...”

He heard her tears drop onto the bed. When he looked down on her face he hesitated.

“The Gaara I love…wouldn’t do this…please stop…I love you, Gaara,” she cried. Gaara faltered. _**She loves…me?**_

 _ **What am I doing?**   **What's happening?**_ Gaara looked down and saw a scared girl under his legs. She was shaking in fear. Because of him. _**I’m a monster. I’m…doing what I was working so hard not to do. I was going to rape her. I was going to rape Sakura. The girl who just told me that she loves me.**_ Gaara was struck with fear and confusion. Shame crept up on his face.

“I..I..”

“Gaara let me go…please. I don’t want it this way…Please...” she sniffled as the tears poured from her eyes.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean…I just couldn’t control...” he stuttered.

He fumbled with the restraints frantically to let her go. He didn’t expect her to jump into his arms but she did and she started crying. She held him close and hugged him. _I knew he wouldn’t._ Gaara held her too.He was crying as well, apologizing over and over. _**I’m a fiend. How could I hurt her like this? Scare her like that? I can't believe I thought...for even a second that she would want that...**_

“I’m sorry Sakura…I’m so sorry,” he cried into her shoulder. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

“I know…I trust you. Please don’t scare me like that…ever again…please,” she whispered in between hiccups.

“I won’t...I promise. Will you say what you said again?” he asked.

“I trust you…”

“Before that…It made me stop; what you said.”

She paused before saying anything.

“Please, Sakura…Say it again…” Gaara begged her as he held her close. _**I need to hear it again. No one has ever said that to me...Ever.**_

“I love you, Gaara…” she cried into his shoulder. “I love you, I love you, I love you!”

They cried for a while before lying down on the bed and falling asleep holding each other tight. It was the best sleep they’d had in days. They slept for hours.The pillows were wet with their tears. Her head was pressed firmly against his chest, her arms encircled around his waist holding tight. Gaara’s arms were thrown around her shoulders, his head bent down so he could smell her hair as she slept. 

He woke at one point and kissed her forehead. It was the chastest kiss he’d ever given someone. No sexual motives attached. She mumbled something but it was inaudible. It didn’t matter. Gaara was sure he knew what she said.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!
> 
> Please, if you noticed any terrible spelling errors, unreadable grammar, or just blatant incorrect word usage, tell me and I will do my best to fix those problems.
> 
> I appreciate constructive criticism and encouraging words but they aren't necessary for a story to continue. If you have interesting thoughts or notions on where a story should head please tell me. I love hearing other peoples ideas!


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